Brief Thoughts On The Power Of Stories

Seeing this image from Doctor Who again reminded me how grateful I am for the power of stories. And I agree that once stories take flight they become something more real then reality. Being enfolded into a good story line is comforting in a way that "reality" rarely is. 

Maybe because stories allow us to travel all the paths imaginable, 

While in "reality" we have to pick one at a time? 

Maybe because stories allow us to be both brave and vulnerable without contradiction? 

Maybe because in stories we make soul deep connections?

Maybe because stories give voice to our own experience;

And if not we can express our experience/identity in daydreams and Fanfiction?

Maybe because stories add color and flare to reality

Making random quotes/references/outfits into memories which make us giggle all day?  

Maybe because "Cory's Coming" to enfold us all

Or Maybe as Neil Gaiman has said:

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, But because they tell us that dragons can be beaten"

When I give myself completely over to a story that story becomes my story. And it changes me for the better. My Characters help be through the challenges of life. My Characters celebrate with my victories. My Characters mean I am never truly lonely or alone.

I know Gaiman's Instructions for Fairytales and have learned these are instructions for life too. So I will hold onto my stories and memories and dreams and use them whenever I need to feel whole, feel important, feel like what I am doing is changing the world for the better. And my hope is all those who are reading this blog find those stories for themselves. What stories have impacted your life and why?

Lessons on Leadership: From Multiple Media Portrayals of “Lucifer”

(Spoilers: General References to the shows “Lucifer” and “Supernatural”)

Recently I was watching the TV Show “Lucifer” (based on a character created by Neil Gaiman) which can be summarized very briefly by the opening credits

“In the beginning... The angel Lucifer was cast out of Heaven and condemned to rule Hell for all eternity. Until he decided to take a vacation....”

Not everyone is thrilled Lucifer is on vacation/retired including the angel Amenadiel who appears to have been put in charge in his stead. In a recent episode Amenadiel complains and says something like

“I have been doing your Job, running Hell, since you left. I hate it!!! You have to come back and do your Job”. 

My gut reaction was to think:

 “That is not a good strategy to convince Lucifer to come back. If you hate the job that much, then Lucifer probably hates it too and he was stuck doing it for millennium. He has accrued decades of PTO (paid time off) at this point.” 

But similar situations have played out in other shows. For example in “Supernatural” Crowley, the self-proclaimed King of Hell, has expressed boredom with the bureaucracy of running Hell, including mind numbing Soul Projection meetings. Lucifer has been shown to be playing Angry Birds when he does not want to lead. And at one point God also went on vacation leaving the angels very lost and confused, leading to lots of trouble as they tried to fill the leadership void.

All of these characters highlight that we often have unrealistic expectations of leaders. For example there is a joke I once read somewhere about what congregations want from their pastors which included “Be in their early 30’s: With 20 to 30 years of experience”, “Spend all their time in the community caring for their congregation and always be in the office” ...

We live in a culture which places a high value on the type of work individuals do but not how that work is supported. In many organizations we expect leadership/employees to be everything and do everything 24/7. Few organizations really focus on the self-care needs of their leadership/employees. And when individuals become burned out and leave for a variety of reasons there is resentment and disappointment on all sides.

I wonder what it would look like if organizations were committed to the self-care needs of their leadership and employees. I wonder what it would look like if work was fluid and it was easier to change job roles and responsibilities as needed. I wonder what it would look like for organizations to focus on preventing burnout.

In the comments share your stories of being provided self-care and stories when you faced Burnout.

A Reflection on Representation

I recently revisited one of my particular identities and how it is represented after learning about a cool panel which will happen at C2E2 (Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo) this year. (More info Here https://www.facebook.com/events/892319884221750/).

I am always super happy when Asexuality is included in any conference or panel so I sent the creator Lauren Jankowski a "Sorry I won't be there because of work but THANK YOU for doing this" message. Within the message I also said:

We need more asexual narratives, and we really need more characters who are explicitly asexual or aromantic in cannon (So that wonderful ace characters are not erased when producers/writers/actors find out about them from fans/fan theories/fan cannon and all of a sudden are bound and determined to prove the fans wrong and therefore destroying the ace characters identity).

Thinking about this further I recognize that ambiguity in characters can be a wonderful thing and creates a fertile ground for fans to take characters in a million different directions. Anything you can imagine, and even those things you can't imagine, can be found in some Fanfiction story out there. And this is amazing. But there is also real power when characters are written with explicit identities.

Ambiguity can lead to cases where a character is interpreted as being on the Asexual Spectrum by fans but the creators/actors etc say that fans are wrong and make statements which simply show a lack of understanding of the concepts involved. I love interpretation but when a character's identity is written explicitly as Fill in the blank with any identity you hold dear, there are subtle differences in how the character is portrayed which make a big difference to me as a Fan.

But this is not the only issue when discussing representation. Lauren Jankowski's response made made me consider a different facet of representation. (Check out her page https://asexualartists.wordpress.com/ I have only started to explore her page but it looks amazing)

I started Asexual Artists because I wanted to highlight all the amazing asexual creators out there. Whenever someone spoke about "good ace representation" they would always suggest something that wasn't created by an ace creator. We need more explicitly ace and aro characters and we also need even more ace and aro creators grin emoticonheart emotic

Now I will admit this was one of the aspects I had not thought about much. I was so focused on wanting more Ace characters I did not think about the need for Ace creators and the need to celebrate these creators. I have written stories, novellas, and poems where being Ace was important or even the focus but I really only though of these as things for me to consume and enjoy and maybe a few close family and friends. And honestly I don't think it crossed my mind that there might be other Ace Spectrum creators out there. Now I am planning to post a few of these odds and ends on this blog so that they are available for a wider audience. I was reminded by Lauren of the old truth that each of our voices matter and it is important to share those voices with others.

Question to discuss:

What examples of representation have positively touched you and what examples have shown a need for better representation in some capacity?
 

Welcome to Adventures Of A Dreaming Ace

Welcome everyone! I thought I would begin by explaining what I am intending for this blog (though knowing how these things work it may end up morphing over time :) ) Here you will find my "Creative Musings On The Intersections Of Story, Fandom, And Life". You will find posts commenting on a wide rang of ideas including how a character's experience made me feel, amazing projects that individuals and groups in fandom are doing, and the impact of these stories on my own life. So come grab your TARDIS, or 67 Chevy Impala, or Firefly Class Ship, or Fill in the blank and come on an adventure with me.