Remember Remember the 11th of September

Hello dear readers, I am posting today as myself rather than the normal anecdotal style I prefer. Mainly for one reason. Please bear with me as I will return us to our regularly scheduled storyline next time I post.

Today always marks a weird day for me. I was woken up out of a pretty dead sleep by what I can only describe as a "disturbance in the force," to a message on AIM to turn on my TV. I was one of those people transfixed to the television when everything was happening in NYC. It was horrifying and terrible to watch. Everyone frightened of what was going to happen next.

That evening I went with a group of my friends to the most numb and quiet goth night I have ever been to in my life. Everyone just standing somewhere in the rooms with their drinks, holding each other and just unsure of what came next for everything.

It was a strange day, it was a sobering day. A day that makes me look back and know that I am so lucky to have the life I have, the people I have, the ability to find magic in the mundane and the knowledge that everything could change in an instant.

In college I did a paper about how most of our society remembers exactly what they were doing, exactly what happened, etc on those days of bad things happening. Ask your grandparents or great grandparents, they will tell you exactly what they were doing when JFK was shot. Ask people who were around and functioning in 1986 when the Challenger blew up. Most of the time they will remember the big bads and not the good things.

So I challenge you all, to start remembering the good! To start seeing all the things in life that show you this magic in the mundane. To appreciate those you have and what you have. Because that is truly the best life for each and every one of us!

Heroes Are Eternal at Least to Us

Hello again dear readers. Your resident Gamer Girl here coming to you live from this corner of the world. Something that has been weighing on my mind as of late as the cycles have gone by is that I have reached a place and an age where those who I held in the highest esteem, those who are the cause of some of my own adventure paths are starting to cross over to their next adventures.

These beings and people have inspired, have shown strength, and have been warriors for things which so many of us believe in. Over the last few cycles I know I have personally been saddened by the loss of a few. Whether they are musicians on the level of Sirens, muses or very powerful Bards. Or they are idols in their chosen life paths and we see them as examples of how we want to live our lives. Sometimes it is the warriors who have been fighting their fight for so long and they were finally defeated or have gone to rest ahead and wait for us on the other side.

As of recently even my own personal heroes have started to cross over. As it would be dishonorable of me to hide the truth, it has been causing a whole lot of sadness in my own life path. This battle is one that I fear we all just need to ride through to the other side of things. Grief is a fight that often leaves us scarred for life. It does get easier to live with the pain, just as physical scars fade, but losing these people of such high esteem definitely causes us to face some things that many people fear.

Know, dear readers, that many are suffering this same type of wound. You are not alone in your fight! Some days you will fall and the tears will come. Some days you will remain strong and show Grief and Loss that they do not have a complete hold on you. Some days you will need those you consider your tribe, crew or questing party, don't be afraid to reach out to those around you if you need help in the battle. We all need a little help from time to time.

Never forget those who have gone on before us. Letting them live on in your memories and hearts keeps them alive and allows them to be Eternal in our minds. It keeps them near and above all can help us control the monsters that are Grief, Pain and Loss. Life is not always fair, but we can absolutely show the monsters in our lives that we are not pawns for them to play with. Be strong dear readers until next time!

Blessed are the Geeks...

When last I wrote dear readers, I spoke of the difficulties of being a female in the comic world and the pride that all of the heroes of the former outcasts finding their way to the light. Today, I need to talk about something else, something that hits just as hard and close. So many people don't realize and today it seems to be making a comeback. This beast seems to be rearing it's ugly head once again. Today, I won't even start with our heroine today as this is completely a confession and something many I know have dealt with.

As a female gamer, geek and freak it has always been a bit of a rough road. I have had to claw and prove myself the whole way through. People informing me I can't be a gamer, because I'm a girl. Asking me, oh, are you playing because your boyfriend does? Or the other side of the coin, "Oh look it's a girl, I need to hit on her!" Making me feel harassed and like a piece of meat. Many of the people who in the past I thought were interested in me, for me, turned out to be interested only to be with a gamer girl, and when they got to know the real me, my intensity as a person or my eclectic interests caused things to end, quite abruptly or people would try to change me.

You would think that a group filled with what in the past has been seen as societies outcasts would be happy to accept new people, regardless of gender, race, orientation or religion into their midst with open arms. I am here to tell you, that many of us have spent way more of our lives "proving themselves worthy" than we should have.

Yes, there has been a rise in the geek and gaming community in the recent years. However, these issues still persist. I know, we are all human and in that fallible. But seeing this happening still, makes me both sad and angry. It makes me want to speak out and do something about it. It makes me wish that this community which I have grown to be so comfortable in and such a part of my life would be able to evolve above this as it wasn't too long ago that people were ridiculed and rejected for being gamers, geeks or nerds and still are in many places and ways.

I know, that at this point in my life I am lucky enough to have found some exceptions to this way of thinking. I do have some amazing gamers and GMs in my life who are open minded and treat people with respect. But my point is, I shouldn't have had to. I feel like especially with everything that is going on in the world right now that we should be banding together, not continuing to have prejudices against others in our community.

I am also saying that we should stand up to those who would discriminate against people for these reasons as it is not okay. I'm not saying that if you get a weird vibe from someone or if you don't get along with someone you need to include them and make them a part of your life. Just don't discriminate for their gender, race, religion or anything that makes them different from you. As this is why we some of the horrible things going on in our world these days and I for one want to truly do something about it!

So stay tuned for next time dear readers, where our brave heroine may in fact be back to regale you with more stories that you may in fact relate to in your life.