PSYCHONAUTS FOR SL CREATIVITY

[Maitimo]

22 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Simply put, the topic is "What do you specifically do to alter your consciousness, if anything, in order to enhance your creativity in SL?".

The possibilities for creativity are endless in SL -- how do you alter your mind (the mission of the psychonaut) in order to be more creative in SL?  Do you do anything particular to alter your consciousness (like going for a walk, drinking extra coffee, taking a nap, listening to music, meditating, working with your dreams) before engaging in creative activities like... putting your SL avatar together, designing the interior/exterior space with your Linden home, creating a script, engaging in photography, landscaping, or creating content in Blender/or with prims for SL?

I do use some of these techniques regularly - meditation, music (listening), drumming (listening and doing), in particular.  I don't specifically use them right before sitting down to SL or to any other creative activity, but I do believe that participating in these things regularly does help with creativity in general.

21 hours ago, Rolig Loon said:

Not a thing. I sit down and go to work, usually with a little instrumental music in the background.

Music is something. 

2 hours ago, Quartz Mole said:

The problem with this is that most solutions to intractable scripting problems seem to come to me in the shower, presumably because I've slept on them overnight.    

There's a solution to that problem:

 

[Luna Bliss]

I feel depressed today and unable to create, and so I'm reading about creativity and looking at quotes about it... so as to possibly get me in the mood. I suppose that activity is a psychonaut tool as well.

[Luna Bliss]

On 8/19/2022 at 11:00 AM, Maitimo said:

I do use some of these techniques regularly - meditation, music (listening), drumming (listening and doing), in particular.  I don't specifically use them right before sitting down to SL or to any other creative activity, but I do believe that participating in these things regularly does help with creativity in general.

I think you're right, in that participating in these endeavors facilitates creativity in SL even if not done specifically for SL or engaging in them immediately before entering SL.  I know meditation helps me in this way.

Drumming sounds interesting. I have a little drum and used to attend drumming circles that were amazing.

[Maitimo]

2 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

I think you're right, in that participating in these endeavors facilitates creativity in SL even if not done specifically for SL or engaging in them immediately before entering SL.  I know meditation helps me in this way.

Drumming sounds interesting. I have a little drum and used to attend drumming circles that were amazing.

I use a bodhran (Irish drum) as it's not too difficult to use one-handed (though I do miss out on some of the finger-damping techniques).

I'm not this good at it but this is the general idea:

It works really well for getting into an altered state of consciousness.

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Maitimo

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Maitimo said:

I use a bodhran (Irish drum) as it's not too difficult to use one-handed (though I do miss out on some of the finger-damping techniques).

I'm not this good at it but this is the general idea:

It works really well for getting into an altered state of consciousness.

 

Thank you, I love that drum!  Just listening to it knocked the cobwebs right out of my mind. I love all things Celtic, and like many I've traced my ancestry back to Ireland, Scotland, and England. They have some very unique and interesting instruments.

[Luna Bliss]

I've discovered something really cool for those experiencing depression or PTSD as a limitation on their creativity. There's a new VR app (Isness-d), though not available to the general public, that simulates what the plant entheogens accomplish regarding alleviating these conditions. Like the plant entheogens, I imagine it will only be available via trained psychotherapists, but I suspect it will be used sooner in podunk locations where there's still a great fear of drugs.

 

[Rolig Loon]

3 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

I suspect it will be used sooner in podunk locations where there's still a great fear of drugs.

As one who lives in a podunk location, I find the label mildly insulting. If it's part of their marketing language, I predict an epic failure.

[Madelaine McMasters]

On 8/21/2022 at 12:43 PM, Maitimo said:

I use a bodhran (Irish drum) as it's not too difficult to use one-handed (though I do miss out on some of the finger-damping techniques).

I'm not this good at it but this is the general idea:

It works really well for getting into an altered state of consciousness.

 

I played the Bodhran at jam sessions at Milwaukee's Irishfest.

Mine was just the right size to carry pizza, so I was allowed to stay.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Madelaine McMasters
Replaced informal "gigs" with the phrase that had escaped me, "jam sessions". I'm getting old.

[Luna Bliss]

Just now, Rolig Loon said:

6 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

I suspect it will be used sooner in podunk locations where there's still a great fear of drugs.

As one who lives in a podunk location, I find the label mildly insulting. If it's part of their marketing language, I predict an epic failure.

No, not part of their marketing at all.  I use the term 'podunk' as one who is frustrated about living on the plains where there is too much conservatism and a resistance to trying new promising therapies.

[Luna Bliss]

1 minute ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I played the Bodhran at informal "gigs" at Milwaukee's Irishfest.

cool...do you actually own one?  I was looking at them on various shopping sites and fully prepared for a price shock but they actually aren't so expensive.  Did you find it difficult to operate?

[Love Zhaoying]

Wait, are "Psychonauts" the same as "Psyonicists"?

[Rolig Loon]

1 minute ago, Luna Bliss said:

I use the term 'podunk' as one who is frustrated about living on the plains where there is too much conservatism and a resistance to trying new promising therapies.

There are plenty of people in the plains who have those frustrations and who would be insulted by the term "podunk." 

[Love Zhaoying]

On 8/19/2022 at 9:45 AM, Quartz Mole said:

The problem with this is that most solutions to intractable scripting problems seem to come to me in the shower, presumably because I've slept on them overnight.    

I meditate on scripting problems while trying to sleep!

[Madelaine McMasters]

Just now, Luna Bliss said:

cool...do you actually own one?  I was looking at them on various shopping sites and fully prepared for a price shock but they actually aren't so expensive.  Did you find it difficult to operate?

Yep, it's around here somewhere. I got mine used, for less than some of the pizzas it carried.

Difficult to operate? Not at all.
Difficult to master? Yeah.
Difficult to play well enough to be welcomed into a gig? Depends on the pizza.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Rolig Loon said:

There are plenty of people in the plains who have those frustrations and who would be insulted by the term "podunk." 

And here, I just thought 'podunk' meant "small town of little consequence", similar to "the boonies", or "one-stoplight town"!

[Luna Bliss]

I also want one of these, but they are pretty pricey so I'd need to know it would be used quite a bit:

 

[Rolig Loon]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

And here, I just thought 'podunk' meant "small town of little consequence", similar to "the boonies", or "one-stoplight town"!

Look it up >>>  https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Po-dunk

[Love Zhaoying]

22 hours ago, Maitimo said:

I use a bodhran (Irish drum) as it's not too difficult to use one-handed (though I do miss out on some of the finger-damping techniques).

I'm not this good at it but this is the general idea:

It works really well for getting into an altered state of consciousness.

 

Amazon has been showing me ads for "Cajon" drums, tempted to add one to my collection.

Didn't think of a "Bodhran" yet!

[Luna Bliss]

3 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

6 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

I use the term 'podunk' as one who is frustrated about living on the plains where there is too much conservatism and a resistance to trying new promising therapies.

There are plenty of people in the plains who have those frustrations and who would be insulted by the term "podunk." 

Well I'm not speaking for the masses -- I'm only speaking for me and my frustrations.  And I use the term 'fly-over' country too.

[Luna Bliss]

1 minute ago, Rolig Loon said:

Look it up >>>  https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Po-dunk

Not wise to use Urban Dictionary.  This dictionary is better and conveys my meaning:

Po·dunk

/ˈpōˌdəNGk/

Learn to pronounce

 

noun

informal•US

noun: Podunk; plural noun: Podunks

1. a hypothetical small town regarded as typically dull or insignificant.

   "she lived in a Podunk town notable for nothing except the girls' school where she taught art"

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Rolig Loon said:

Look it up >>>  https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Po-dunk

Yeah...those Urban Dictionary definitions put a MUCH more negative twist on it than I grew up with.

I first heard/read the term in a context where the writer was well-respected and wouldn't have mean it the same ways as in the UD.

See the Wikipedia entry for more like what I meant: "insignificant, out-of-the-way, or even completely fictitious town."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podunk

[Luna Bliss]

More info about VR approaches like Isness-d...kind of a long study:

 Group VR experiences can produce ego attenuation and connectedness comparable to psychedelics

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-12637-z

Edited August 22, 2022 by Luna Bliss

[Ceka Cianci]

On 8/21/2022 at 10:38 AM, Luna Bliss said:

I feel depressed today and unable to create, and so I'm reading about creativity and looking at quotes about it... so as to possibly get me in the mood. I suppose that activity is a psychonaut tool as well.

This one is interesting to me, because I can see two meanings in it..

To live twice could mean that creating is an escape and  it's like another life.

It also could mean, you are born again in your creations or you live on, in your creations..

That's what I get from it.. hehehehe

 

 

[Luna Bliss]

3 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

On 8/21/2022 at 10:38 AM, Luna Bliss said:

I feel depressed today and unable to create, and so I'm reading about creativity and looking at quotes about it... so as to possibly get me in the mood. I suppose that activity is a psychonaut tool as well.

Expand  

This one is interesting to me, because I can see two meanings in it..

To live twice could mean that creating is an escape and  it's like another life.

It also could mean, you are born again in your creations or you live on, in your creations..

That's what I get from it.. hehehehe

I like your interpretations. I'm not sure what Camus meant -- I'd have to be more familiar with his work to make an educated guess. I'm not even completely sure what I meant when I posted it except that what I felt resonated on a deeper, intuitive level before I could put it into words now that you question the meaning yourself.

Creating one's own art or experiencing the art others create is like stepping into a new world...through creating a character in a book, an environmental scene, a new script, a new avatar. It gives new life to what we carry inside, palpable to those who encounter its manifestation.
Through literature and art a new reality comes alive for us to experience, especially when the creator is talented in conveying that world.  
I'd really love to find another book that I just can't put down, stay up way too late and regret it in the morning

 *Goes off to peruse the unread book stack*

[Rolig Loon]

Camus explored the absurdity of living in a universe that is chaotic and does not care whether we are here or not. His novels involved the search for making sense of it all, bringing order, meaning, and purpose to it all. Is there a meaning to life? Why should we expect anything more than disorder and random events in our lives? He had several answers, some involving religious faith and personal ethics, and some exploring the drive for creativity. "To create is to live twice" is quoted as a statement that we can be reborn through bringing new order, beauty, and meaning. I have long forgotten most of his novel The Myth of Sisyphus, in which it appears, but it builds on the legend of Sisyphus, who was doomed to push the same rock uphill for eternity.  Why did he keep doing it?  Did he have a choice? Is there hope, even in a life of futility?

I started in college as a French major, abandoning it for the sciences when I discovered that I didn't really care for much French literature, but I did enjoy Albert Camus.