Growth Mindset: Sparking Creativity

"You felt entitled to look at things differently and ask questions. That was a sign of your creativity."

Indicators of a creative rut include a recurring pattern to workdays, a compulsion to agree with everyone in order to get along, seeing obstacles in front of new ideas/methodologies, an unwillingness to try something that hasn't worked in the past, and a feeling of inadequacy due to the uncaring nature of others.

Ways to go about fixing a rut include thinking new, searching for intersections, using obstacles to a creative advantage, and sharing new observations. Volunteering is a biggie- engaging in surroundings and making an effort to connect with your workplace can make for a more positive mental environment. The difference between an employee and a professional is working the job or letting the job work you. Maintaining a sense of giving something rather than having something taken is the main theme of the article. This article was an eyeopener for me, as this semester I've encountered and modeled myself many of the hallmarks of lost creativity. Hopefully I can utilize some of these helpful pointers to restore creativity in the future!

Image Info: The article's accompanying image. It features multiple colors, an orchid, and a dragonfruit, among other elements. Link.

Bibliography:
     Claman, Priscilla. How to Spark Creativity When You're in a Rut. Harvard Business Review. 19 April, 2017.

Tech Tip: Embedding on SoundCloud

For this Tech Tip, I initially had a tough time figuring out how to incorporate the coding for the SoundCloud link, but a helpful comment cleared up the confusion (Thanks Professor Gibbs!!). For anyone curious, copying and pasting the Embed code needs to be done in HTML mode, which can be activated using the button on the upper left adjacent to the Compose button). The SoundCloud link I chose is a personal favorite: a seventies compilation from the two Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Famous Last Words: OU/Texas

From academics to athletics this was a hard week. I had four midterms in 24 hours and a myriad of additional assignments to boot, and it was a struggle to keep up with Pride rehearsals and everything on top. The Texas trip was so much fun! It was a great opportunity to spend time with old friends and grow closer to new ones in the mellophone section- win or lose the game I know I’ve won by having these people in my life. This class-wise I’m continuing with my goal of doing more extra credit, and am glad to have a week off of Reading assignments because it will hopefully help me to get ahead on them, instead of behind like these past two weeks. It’s also our football bye week and a much-needed Monday rehearsal reprieve. I still play at a volleyball pep gig on Saturday, but the time commitment is much more conducive to healthy sleep habits and studying for the next barrage of midterms. I just added another Story to my Project Portfolio, and though I don’t like it as much as my first story I believe it has a lot of potential, especially in the next two weeks of revising. I’m considering rewriting it with a space-y theme, because the scene it’s about (Draupadi getting gambled into slavery) reminded me of the plight of Leia, C-3PO, and R2 in the beginning of Return of the Jedi. The only “first midterm” I have left in a class is for Physical Chemistry two weeks from tomorrow, and I am absolutely terrified. Fear is a powerful motivator, however, and I anticipate starting to study far earlier because of it. My mid-semester resolution is to be a bastion of positivity, and to only complain in constructive ways, as it’s far too easy to get down in the dumps under an unending barrage of schoolwork. We’re all in this together and if I can brighten someone else’s dark day by focusing more out than in, I’d call that as much of an extracurricular success as doing well on a test.

Image Info: If only this were true this weekend :'(. An OU/TX Pinterest meme.
Source: Link.

Tech Tip: Adding a Countdown Widget

I added in a Countdown widget for the Big XII Championship Game on December 1st. After yesterday's game, I'm hesitant about whether we'll make it but cautiously optimistic about potential improvement. It marks the end of our marching season sans-bowl game, so it's a big day to count down to! This was a really cool tip, and I'll definitely be using it in future blogging endeavors.

Image Info: Personal Screenshot of the blog countdown I added thanks to this Tech Tip!

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part D

This whole initial couple-chapter sequence is a heck of a whirlwind of shots befitting an epic war film. The stage is set with no small amount of foreboding in the beginning. This was very effective because the description was so sensorial. The paragraph detailing the loss of Abhimanyu just about made me cry it was so emotional. Focusing on the impact his death had on his parents and on the tragedy of his being so young shows the reader the high stakes and motivations of the main protagonists going into the rest of the climactic battle.
It's also much gorier than the Ramayana, which was at first disconcerting. It's unapologetically dark and violent, and sets a far-different tone. I've heard that there is nothing more painful for a parent than the loss of their child, and these first few chapters are filled with these losses on both sides. The stakes are so very high. And then there's a scene like the one where Ashwatthaman mumbles to destroy Drona's morale, which comes off as comparatively light, while reinforcing his honorable reputation. (Though I question how he morally justified this trickery- seems like a good ol' fashioned loophole to me). And THEN blood is drunk a chapter after. The mood switch from sentence to sentence is abrupt and therefore exceptionally effective in jarring the reader, unsettling them slightly for the final sequence.
"The pale stars looked down on the dead and the dying."  The funeral sequence is devastating, and I can imagine it with a background of music like Brian Tyler's Into Eternity or the Williams music from Vader's funeral pyre at the conclusion of the original Star Wars trilogy. Ganga emerging from the river to deliver a eulogy was likewise touching and heartbreakingly sad, and adds to the significance of their deaths, as a literal goddess appeared in sorrow for the loss of comparatively insignificant human life. Truly epic in every sense of the word.

Image Info: Arjun Invokes War-Goddess, from Grant Morison's Reimagined Visual Mahabharata Anthology, 18 Days.
Source: Scoop Whoop.com. Link.

Bibliography: PDE Mahabarata. Source: Link.
Arnold
Besant
Devee
Dutt
Ganguli
Kincaid
Macfie
Mackenzie
Nivedita
Seeger
Tagore

Week 7 Story: In Which Draupadi Pandava Serves Up Some Spicy Plantains

After a few years of being “the woman with five husbands”, Draupadi Pandava was used to being called, well, high maintenance. She was used to the stares, smirks, and side-eyes that came with an admittedly formidable reputation. Honestly, she rather liked it that way. The women of India knew that Draupadi was woman enough for not one, but five husbands, all of whom were reputable in their own right. Even if one had a rather serious gambling addiction.

Draupadi had made a personal promise not to show favor for one of the brothers over any of the others- in a group, anyway. On an individual level she had long since convinced them all that they held the largest piece of her heart- it was far easier to manipulate them that way. And Draupadi would know- manipulation was her forte. What could she say? She had never been one to settle. As a child, if she couldn’t decide between desserts, she would use her often underestimated abilities to make it happen. Draupadi was well versed in getting her way, which was why she wasn’t about to take the gambled-away-into-a-waitress gig sitting down, especially not on the knee of a nauseatingly self-satisfied sociopath. "Honestly!" she scoffed internally. "A loaded die does not a skillful gamesman make."

And so, while the taxpayer-funded royal thuggery attempted in vain to relieve her of her Grecian imported designer dress, Draupadi was doing her best to stop seething and start thinking. By the time everyone realized the unfruitful nature of the relentless unrolling of her garmentry, she had the beginnings of a plan.

One of the advantages to being a kitchen slave was the access to the food. Certain positions, regardless of occupational reach, were expendable. The staff responsible for sustenance, however, would always be inarguably necessary, and there, Draupadi reasoned, was the source of their incomparable power.

And so, when she showed up at Shakuni's ornately bedazzled room with a midnight snack, he didn’t question it. And he equally didn’t question it when she flashed him the doe eyes and dropped him a quick peck on the cheek while she reached into the back of his robes and switched out the tricked out gambling dice she found there, leaving him with a platter of fried plantains and absolutely no idea what was coming his way the next day.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by a sequence from the PDE Mahabharata in which Draupadi is gambled away by Yudhishthira in an unfortunate game involving his opponent, Shakuni, wielding a loaded die. She is subsequently dragged off by her hair and forced to become the equivalent of a house slave. I figured that her indigence toward her new class occupation would be motivation enough to use her resources and skills as a master manipulator to find a way out of this pickle! 

Image Info: A screengrab from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, featuring R2-D2 after he is bargained into slave labor. (Sounded familiar!). Link.

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata. The Gambling Match, Draupadi Lost. Source: Link.

Arnold

Besant

Devee

Dutt

Ganguli

Kincaid

Macfie

Mackenzie

Nivedita

Seeger

Tagore

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part C

41. Life in the Forest: A magical copper pot! I wonder about the origins of the pot- where was it made, by whom, with what? Is there a magic copper pot factory in the heavens? Also the montage feeling is strong in this chapter- the visiting shrines, doing devotions, encountering sunshine, shade, flowers, and flash-flooding rains. I love it.

42. Krishna's Visit: "exquisite coppery eyes" beautiful. "Sorry I wasn't there, I was waging a war against demons" as excuses go, definitely not the worst. MORAL: anger is sinful, forgiveness is holiness. "Who can pierce the cloud which covers the doings of the gods" nice imagery. "Virtue is greater than life and prosperity in this world; it is the way to celestial bliss." Then they were all silent and they pondered. Me too. I love how visceral this scene is with so little description.

43. Arjuna and Shiva: Arjuna is going off on his own to find formidable weapons reminds me of Thor and Rocket's side adventure in Infinity War. Able to live on air alone?! Arjuna teach me how!! mind, eyes, words, bow. all equally powerful.

44. Arjuna and Indra: I love that the curse is to be regarded as a bad dancer for a year. Also, that he takes a considerable amount of time to learn how to use the formidable weaponry. I wonder what Patala looks like? the bottom of the Marianas Trench perhaps. Mighty tortoises and demon fish sound pretty intimidating. Demons "smote" their drums. So they're musical demons. Do they have an evil demon marching band? The 10,000 multicolored horses sound like a sight to behold.

45. The Himalayas: Thank Goodness Yudhishthira's getting some skill with dice. His inadequacy in terms of reciprocal cheating has cost the family a lot. Again, a beautifully-described location: "dazzling streamers, beauteous gardens". Moral: good things come to those who wait. I want a better reunion scene! At least five hugs! He was gone five years, goodness! Also a moral: knowledge is power.

46. Bhima and Hanuman: I LOVE A GOOD CROSSOVER OMG. More hugs, I love it! Also this chapter continues to reinforce the caste system for future generations.

47. Duryodhana and the Gandharvas: dang, Duryodhana's a two-faced drama queen. This was all unfortunate- I would hate to be the messenger...I wonder how stressful that must have been.

48. Karna and Indra square deal. Moral: everything has a cost. Also I as a reader Felt it when he had to cut off his physical armor/earrings. Oof.

49. Jayadratha and Draupadi: Draupadi models here that there are strengths beyond the physical- her network and manipulatory skills sufficiently avenge her honor.

50. Riddles at the Lake: Said Yudhishthira, "Man's unconquered enemy is anger, and his disease is covetousness; he who seeketh after the good of all is holy; he who is selfishly cold is unholy."

The Voice said, "Who are worthy of eternal torment?"

Said Yudhishthira, "He who sayeth unto the brahmin whom he hath asked to his house, I have naught to give; he who declareth the Vedas to be false; he who is rich and yet giveth naught to the poor.

51. The Court of King Virata: I saw the name Durga and immediately thought of the character in the Eragon books haha. "tigers and lions and bears' Oh my!

52. Bhima and Kichaka: This was dark.

53. The Cattle Raid: 

54. Preparations for War: "bright and numerous as the stars were the gems that glittered on the robes of the mighty warriors." "heretofore"

55. Krishna and His Army: I love that they have such a strong relationship.

56. Krishna's Mission to the Kauravas: He tried. I appreciate that he went about trying his darndest to be peaceful instead of immediately starting a war. Krishna as a living flame must be a beautiful sight to behold. I want to find some artwork of this moment.

57. Krishna and Karna: Foreshadowing the great war. 

58. The Armies at Kurukshetra

59. Bhagavad-Gita: It is saddening that this was the fate of the two brothers: destruction.

60. The Battle Begins: All of the senses are covered here (except perhaps taste): drums sounded, dawn was darkened, jackals howled, vultures screamed hungrily, the earth shook, thunder was heard, ...loud noise." Set the stage very effectively.

Image Info: Draupadi, from Grant Morison's Reimagined Visual Mahabharata Anthology, 18 Days.
Source: Scoop Whoop.com. Link.

Bibliography: PDE Mahabarata. Source: Link.
Arnold
Besant
Devee
Dutt
Ganguli
Kincaid
Macfie
Mackenzie
Nivedita
Seeger
Tagore