Great question and super common experience. A couple things to offer- one of them is human urges general last between 5-15 minutes tops. Eg. quitting smoking and you want a cig, if you can distract yourself for 12 minutes- you'll stop wanting one. This concept is sometimes referred to as 'urge surfing' and is a ACT therapy concept(I mean, its as old as people, but ACT rebranded the wisdom). Also, stopping things is actually a very hard thing to do- but doing something else, not nearly as hard: make a list of 50 things you could do other than porn have it ready, have it somewhere in reach and then try to use it. Remember that scene in indian jones when he wants the gold deity/icon but he knows he has to replace it with a bag of sand the same weight- same idea here, sub it out dont try and just stop.

Conceptually- you have habituated a behavior because it feels good and by having done this repeatedly over years your brain has established a specific electrical firing pattern along connected synapses. What does that mean? It means you've walked a specific way in the woods long enough that a path has formed. It is now easier for thoughts, urges, memories and other products of the minds to move along that path. Which makes perfect sense- good news is, any and every time you walk another route you are establishing an alternate neural pathway which in time eventually overtakes the current one. Here is what is so exciting about this, no effort made at walking this new path is ever 'undone' eg. been not using porn for awhile, feeling proud and accomplished about it- then oopsie, you look at porn- none of the hardwork, none of the alternate neural pathway goes away- this is like a ratchet system and it only moves in your favor- you cannot go backwards even accidentally . So, set backs will happen, lets try and be non-judgmental and just notice a relapse happened- what led to? was their a trigger? is it a trigger that can be avoided or distracted from?

-Also, boredom is your greatest ally right now, seek out boredom, feel it get to know it, also it generally last less than 15 minutes because you'll find something else to do. I would literally challenge you to set a time and then sit and see how long it goes until your suddenly taking out the trash or working on that project youve been meaning to get to for months: Boredom is one of our greatest motivators, utilize it. -Use coping skills, if you dont feel like you're very familiar with those, do a little searching online. Make a list of activities and also of people you can talk with(id make 2 lists of people: 1 who can offer distraction 2. people you're comfortable with speaking about vulnerable issues) make a list of places to go also. Finally, what is the single most important reason you are doing this? Write that down and keep it with you. -The cost of a new life is your old one. (allow yourself to grieve the loss of the old one, but don't forget to celebrate the new one!) I'm not very active on here but please always feel free to DM if that would be helpful!

I don't know all the details/specifics but USA wildland fire crews do have drone crews that use drones for mapping purposes- to aid direction of resources on ground, and monitor conditions. As you would imagine there are extensive bureaucratic procedures for any event where a done goes down/loses control/etc, it does happen- but my understanding is that it is never/rarely catastrophic failure.

Like 10 years ago when i was a total lib and would listen to npr, I heard a food historian talk about how prohibition movement in the US destroyed the national culinary traditions and began the pivot into adults eating children's food. What I remember from it was, usa used to have respectable cuisine, prohibition destroyed normal restaurants, cant get that alcohol mark up any more- so there was never a time in us history where so many restaurants closed and so many new ones opened. All the new ones were 'family' restaurants, cause no one could sell booze, but they have food specifically for your kid now and thus began the introduction of bland, soft, sweet foods onto menus across n. America. It obviously took over and now tons of Americans eat a diet similar to what an 8 year old with sensory issues would prefer. No idea how the british fucked it up so bad though.

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Hey Comrade, I can offer some ideas as someone who is a therapist(LAC working toward LPC). also feel free to dm, i have a hard time responding to posts or dms timely- no hexbear at work is general rule.

So, I dont know too much about art therapy, but have several music therapist friends, and they're wages are all higher than mine and they enjoy their work immensely. They do a lot of work with neurodivergent and child/adolescent clients. -Undergrad degree doesnt make too much of a difference, in a lot of ways it seems to be a hoop they want you to jump through just to prove you can. I got my BA in religious studies(focused on Tibetan Buddhism) not much of a link between that and my CMHC program(clinical mental health counseling). I did work in the field for my 20's before going back to school tho- so that made my application look great i'm sure. Only folks in my program with psych undergrad degrees were fresh out of undergrad, almost everyone else had a less direct journey. Trying to go straight from undergrad into a grad program is doable, but presents with some career issues if going the therapist route- you'll often find middle aged(or even just a few yrs older) cl's struggle taking people much younger than them as experts. A simple 'that isn't an issue for the majority of my clients, how about we try several sessions and if it is still an issue I will help you find referrals for another clinician' often does the trick, but not all the time. I would highly recommend volunteering or working in some fashion in both fields- it can be really hard to gauge a profession while just sitting on the sidelines, a few weeks of work will be a better guide than just about anything.

Friends who are librarians love the work, complain bitterly about the student debt vs wages; often find it depressing that they are the only social services available, and often feel un/under prepared(sometimes un-safe) for what the job actually entails as far as working with the public, often folks with addiction, mental health concerns, etc. And, to my understanding they do make lower wages than therapists.

both seems like excellent careers and ways to help our brother, sisters and others. Whatever you end up doing, one of these or mystery third option, looking for ways to engage that are creative and outside of the box are sorely needed. Hope something in there is helpful!

Nice work comrade! I've been on an attempted journey to do the same, having more trouble than it seems you are, but sedentary job and getting older are unavoidable big hurdles for me. You inspired me to do an extra set of core exercises this morning tho! Thanks for the motivation, stay the course- fit and healthy!

lol

Oh wow, very cool! I've got some catching up to do, but I absolutely will! Thanks for bringing this to my awareness!

thank you, comrade!

Do you think the free tax help prep places are running this early in the season?

Very confident I would have received refund, grad student living on debt and pretty close to poverty line yearly income because only part time jobs. I'm assuming since I was late, that refund money is just gone

Ball so hard

Hello Comrade!! Whats your favorite type of cheese??

Also, just plug for Red Star Over China, great read- really informative, goes into specifics and also anecdotes- very cool!!

God damn its so strange the different state break down. I got 14B and it enough for 182 schools in AZ!

Seriously, thanks so much for responding to the post-! This is a treasure trove for me and my book club- we've been focusing on china, and I totally hear your point about social media, and we are all still looking forward to getting a little more of a casual glimpse, as opposed our current historical focus. If that makes sense? Anyway, thanks again for all the great intel!!

So helpful! Thanks so much for all these resources! Cant wait to get home and get to check all these out!!

Yeah, I could have been clearer- I was excited about the Webio international because supposedly it features both the original Chinese and English translations. And I'm english dependent right now, so cruising around on the site, and copy pasting things into google translate has given me limited access. I just got super stoked to have a system that doesn't require all those inputs to scroll. Do you read chinese? Or use some software or something to translate?

Hoping you can shake off that feeling and avoid the shame cycle(worth a google if your not familiar) Fighting addiction is incredibly difficult, try not to get down on yourself. Relapse is a natural part of recovery.(relapse prevention plans and relapse recovery plans might be something to look into when your feeling up to it)

Oh, wow- this feel like a lot just reading, can't imagine how difficult this time is/has been for you! So amazing you're still going and holding on strong- sending vibes, love, and light!