Thought debris

[goldkin]

One of the most interesting things about being otherkin is, alongside therians and similar groups, we're among the few that can substantively explain what it's like to be more than human. While our condition is one firmly rooted within the human experience, it also transcends beyond, letting loves and experiences we'd otherwise not express help define whom we are.

I'm not sure why that seems fundamentally broken to some people. When you strip out all of the mysticism, woo, and notions of past lives and prior existences from the equation, what you're left with is this group of people interested in simulating how they wish they could be. It's quirky, it's weird, and in many cases it's outright kinky, but it says as much about the capabilities of humanity as it does about the attempts to transcend it. We're just a group that, given half the chance, might want to shed the mantle of humanity entirely.

I'm not sure why I feel the need to express that. I think a lot of it has to do with this "is otherkin/is not otherkin" dichotomy, where people still aren't certain who is "genuine enough" to receive consideration for their beliefs. And, in the midst of the very real possibility of being wrong about all of this past-life woo, it's good to have a solid base that defines that which I am.

I guess I don't feel shame for being otherkin, even if everything I believe about myself were unequivocally proven wrong. In my minds eye, it remains the person whom I wish to be. Through simulations, it remains the person whom experiences have led me to be. And in that sense, it ceases to be this past-rooted thing, instead becoming that whom I am.

But, unrelated to all of this, let's stop to celebrate the small victories. And, for all of you in the states: I hope you had a happy and safe 4th of July.

Comments

[tayruu]

"Experience" really is a good word here. I can't say with certainty that what I've experienced has been spiritually inclined or what have you, but it still happened to me. I am content with it being because of my belief, not what I believe being true or not.

It's interesting sometimes that, when you do "strip out all of the [x]", you're left with something that might appear similar to how some furries display themselves. Yet 'kin seem to have a different posture about it all. It's not pride, "furry pride" is an absurd notion. Maybe the best description is "comfort" to display/act in a way that isn't really "play".

I don't see how non-human relating is broken. Non-human internet personae or author avatars aren't. Active imaginations aren't. In fact, I find feeling the need to simply characturise one's body and use it as a persona boring. I think people simply have an issue when the "spirituality" card is raised.

I do have a pretty clear cut line where things stop being "genuine". People need to respect writers and artists and keep mysticism away. (It's honestly a real problem on Tumblr and people joining it think it's "the place" for kin and justice stuff are quite wrong.) I don't want them to stop doing the former though. The fan creations, the persona, all that sort of thing. I just want to be respected as a creator. :<

I'm personally up in the air about past lives. (It's one of the few things that haven't fallen off the fence into the joke paddock as my patience for kin sadly cripples...) I actively avoid entertaining the notion for fear of losing myself. Who I am now is because of my present inside, which I can attest to more readily than possibly alternate sources. Perhaps even if you come to the belief your past lives aren't a thing, you can still attest to be dragon. Then we can get on with AR technology and make that more literal.

wow i hope i didn't write a bigger comment than your post

[tixagon]

Some of us like to believe we were dragons once, others like to believe they will be dragons some day... I like to think I'll some day build a draconic body more suitable for my consciousness. In spirit, aren't we all similar?

No one can take that away from you, no matter how wrong they think you are.

[brushwolf]

I think it's one of those mythical things - like anything else with spirituality really - which is much more about truth than about fact. Big chunky metaphor has a strength and validity of its own after all.

There's a batch of other stuff I can't coherently explain right now, but I think there's a lot of really interesting things with ego, and how retaining ego differs from person to person, and through experience within the same person. So one person's view of reality is challenged to the point of rejecting it by the idea that Fred over there is sure he's a wolf. Fred, over there, is suddenly building ego into the idea that yeah, wolf, so his reality is challenged to the point of rejection with the idea that his lupinity isn't some unshakeable physical reality to the universe. Just this whole really weird little interconnection.

[citrakayah]

What exactly do you mean by 'simulating how they wish they could be'?

It's quirky, it's weird, and in many cases it's outright kinky, but it says as much about the capabilities of humanity as it does about the attempts to transcend it. We're just a group that, given half the chance, might want to shed the mantle of humanity entirely.

For that matter, we also call into question what exactly 'humanity' is--is it body, or is it mind? If it is mind, what sort of mind is human, and what sort is not?

And, of course, we also call into question the value of humanity.

[tayruu]

I'm needlessly uncomfortable with saying "I'm human" because I'm more comfortable saying otherwise. When I do say it I mean "I'm not that different", because saying "I'm not human" feels like I'm disassociating with even the friends I respect.

What defines someone as human gets murky sometimes, even outside this subject. You hear people say "they're not human" with regards to sociopaths and those with a lack of empathy. Perhaps then humanity is simply the ability to connect with and function with others of a shared interest.

[citrakayah]

But sociopaths can do that too. As can nonhumans (and I don't just mean people who consider themselves nonhumans by that).

[tayruu]

There will always be (with our current technology) a significantly bigger language barrier between species than identity choices.

I mentioned sociopathy because of Antisocial personality disorder, which to my understanding leads to the aversion of social connections...

Oh, I was actually referring to others' comments. A sociopath can say they're human, but their actions may lead to others saying "they're not human".

[goldkin]

Sorry for the slow reply time on my part! By "simulating how they wish they could be," I mean the conscious act of, in whole or in part, pretending to or leading oneself to embrace aspects that they had, previously, defined as those they wish to express more of to the world.

I can't readily answer what it is to be human. Though, I readily support efforts to make our definition of humanity that much more precise, so we can understand where the model succeeds, where it fails, and where we can choose to step beyond it. Would a bibliography and an essay on the subject help, here?

[citrakayah]

But not all otherkin wish to express more of those aspects, and some otherkin have things in common besides that, because they take psychological approaches.

I suppose so.

[avia]

I like all of this. I can't think of the words to say to it, right now, but... I really like it.

I'll come back and read this a few times, I think, and see if I have more to say...