Friday List: Blessing Addition

Two years ago, I got on Facebook. It was a big step for me because I'd not been very social, even on a cyberspace basis, for a long time. When you first get on a social media thingymabob, you often find yourself at a loss with what to write.  I, fortunately, was in good headspace at that point, and decided I would not fill the Wall of others with angst and other stuff I should have been past by like 12.

 I decided I would do a Thankful Thursday post every week. Just type out one or two things I was grateful to have in my life.  I have to say, it's been good for me.  Talking about the places where you are blessed in your life gives you a nice re-centering. I think I've talked about that before.

I forgot to do my Thankful Thursday this week.  My mind was elsewhere because I wasn't at home and because of the stuff I blogged about on Wednesday. So for this list, I decided to blog about my blessings, the big ones I am so, so thankful to have.

1. As an adult, I have never been in a relationship that was physically violent.
   
   When I was a child, this was a different matter.  But as an adult, I've been very lucky to have avoided the people who feel it is their duty to abuse others.  Some people might say that being a fat girl who is rather mentally unstable might have something to do with that, but if I had been in an abusive relationship, they'd say being a fat girl who is mentally unstable was the reason for that as well. There's never any winning with that crap.
   
2. I share my life with someone I trust.
   
   My roommate and I were talking tonight about how so many people have to deal with others who will rifle through their belongings, read their emails, creep through their texts and files. I don't have to worry about that with him. He can use my computer all day and I know he'd never dig through my personal files.  He won't go through my purse and I never have to worry about finding him in my room looking for stuff to use against me.  I jokingly tell him it's because he knows he'd be freaked out by what he would find, but that isn't really the case. He respects my privacy.  Trust me, if the people around you don't respect your privacy, you need to get away from them.  They don't respect you.
   
3. I have a good therapist.
   
   A lot of people have to go through HELL to find a good therapist.  Bad therapists tend to either be lazy, useless, crazy, working some agenda, or dogmatic.  Mine is none of these things.   She is diligent in her work, she's sane, neutral, and works with me on ways to address my issues. Finding mental stability is like trying to carve up a glacier. There is the jagged part sticking out of the water that you have to bang out waaaay before you hit all the massive stuff under the surface.  She has been instrumental in helping me find my way into the murkier depths.
   
4. I know I am loved.
   
   For many years, I wasn't sure of this.  I felt like most people were just going through the motions of loving me . . . or in some cases, not even bothering to do that.  My life is so different now.  I know I am loved.  I have a nephew who, after being told I was coming over, spent the whole day drawing pictures for me and taping them to his living room wall so I could see them when I came over.  I have extended family who drove from Colorado to come get me just so I could spend Thanksgiving with them.  I have best friends I get to talk to every day.  I am not just loved, I am very loved.
   
5. I have rediscovered my Voice.
   
   Of course, I don't mean my speaking voice. I never lost that.  I did lose my writing voice though.  When I was younger, I wrote all the time. During the worst of my mental and emotional decline, I stopped writing. I lost my Voice and began to think it was gone for good.  I've been blogging over two months now. My Voice has returned and I'm so, so thankful for that. I had not realized how much I missed it.

It was a rough winter, a rough start to this year, but in all the craptasticness that has happened, I can't help but be happy right now.  I'm writing again and I really needed to be writing.

Even if it is a blog only two people read. Hi, guys! *waves*

More discussions of sucking

SO....a while back, Monty Python put all of their work up on Youtube so everyone could watch it for free. Since then, sales of their dvds have gone up 23,000%. Article about it is here if you're interested.  I read about this just a few hours after I watched Neil Gaiman talk about why he was cool with people pirating his writing online. That is here, if you're interested. Good video and Neil has a very hot voice.

Anyway, so in both cases, one finds proof that putting things online for free in no way harmed the sale of the works. In fact, just the opposite is true.  We find that both with Monty Python and Gaiman, their sales showed vast increase, despite the free access.  And why is this, you may ask, how can this be after countless others have screamed and whined and moaned and gnashed their teeth about how piracy is draining money from artists?

Gaiman makes a good point as to the why of this. He talked about how and why people get exposed to certain aspects of media. He would invite his audience members to think about how they found their favorite author and noticed a trend. Most of us tend to find our favorite things, authors, musicians, movies, through exposure from others.

I know this has been the case for me.  I can't even count how many of my favorites happen to BE that due to friends.  I can also tell you that for all of the mix tapes and borrowed comics and whatnot, of the things I really loved, I bought my own copies. I needed to have them with me, close to my person, so any time I needed to experience them again, I could.

And in an economy where people don't have a lot of money to spare on things like books and music, having someone give you a sample of it before you make the purchase is quite helpful.  If you're having to decide if you want to have a new dvd or, say for instance, gas for your car, you're going to opt for the car if you know nothing about the dvd in question.

However, if you got to watch a good selection of said movie online? You may know it's special enough to give up driving your car for a few days.

So this is the conclusion I've reached about this, and it's shitty, but oh so true.  There are people who suffer from online piracy and things being posted for free. There are people who see a vast cut in their sales and feel used and taken advantage of . . . these are the people who just really aren't that good.

Yes, there. I've said it.  The people who suffer from piracy are the ones who will only make money if you're tricked into buying what they are selling without prior exposure to the work. These are the people who want to lure you in and trick you into buying their mediocre novel or lackluster fail of an album knowing full well it sucks but that once you've bought it, they still get the proceeds. Sure, you'll never buy their stuff again. Their offering of fail will take up space on your shelves until you sell it to a resale shop or something. But they still got their money.

Look, I am in no way encouraging people TO pirate the work of others.  While it may work quite well for Python to put their stuff on Youtube for free, the big bad evil record company drones and those other shades of drone who run other media still see this as illegal.

However, as an artist, there might be other ways to look at the issue.  When it gets down to it, intellectual property has its merits, but piracy and whatnot are really the best form of  free advertising you're going to get.  If you are GOOD, you will still make money because people will STILL want to buy what you're selling. And if you don't make money . . . maybe you should rethink you're career choices.

Or, you know, find a way not to suck so much.

I've been using the word "suck" a lot lately. Must have something to do with Valentine's Day.  OH, and it's midnight. Happy Valentine's Day, darlings. Hope you get what you want.