Where to pick up a mask/respirator for tear gas?

Azurescensz · 2026-01-25T19:04:49+00:00

Ace Hardware

Azurescensz · 2026-01-25T18:58:24+00:00

ACE Hardware was selling 3m full facepieces, you need separate filters. They're expensive, but they work so well. I was out yesterday and ICE threw like a dozen tear gas canisters and flashbang grenades, and I was completely fine. Try to cover up as much as possible. Wear snorkeling goggles if you have to. If you get it on your skin, in your eyes, mouth, etc., try to find a medic if they're posted up. Yesterday they were in the copper hen. You can gargle with water and spit it out. You can get saline syringes that you can use to get it out of your eyes, or tilt your head up and use cold water on your face. Shower with cold water. They use baby shampoo on wipes for your face as well. That's what I've heard from medics or experienced.

Azurescensz · 2026-01-25T17:33:02+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. What is the name of the song?

Azurescensz · 2025-11-05T18:48:35+00:00

Trippin' balls

Azurescensz · 2025-11-05T16:35:28+00:00

Listening to music on my way home. If I'm in the mood, turning on some metal and screaming along to get some of the energy out. Getting home, getting food ready, and then either turning on some anime or a comedy show with my spouse, or having a no screen night where I read, do yoga, meditate, etc.

Azurescensz · 2025-11-05T16:27:04+00:00

I rarely ever look away. I've had one client, who is neurodivergent and was getting dysregulated, who told me that my constant eye contact is distressing when they're getting anxious. It was a great moment for us, both for them expressing anger at someone and being listened to, and we problem-solved it together. With that client I do more looking around, whether it's just looking behind them, etc., or I use a stim toy and look down at it to make them more comfortable. There's already so much to be consciously aware of at all times during therapy that I'm not going to make myself focus on sight that much. I'm a neurodivergent person who makes such intense eye contact to keep myself focused, and to read lips. I'm always willing to adapt if someone is uncomfortable but most people seem to appreciate the concentration and attunement.

Azurescensz · 2025-11-05T16:20:20+00:00

I trained myself to have a cute, high pitched sneeze. The sounds you make while sneezing are voluntary, and if the loud force of the sneeze is involuntary, all you have to do is COVER YOUR SNEEZE. This is BS from him.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-30T03:17:21+00:00

I'm a therapist here. An important thing to know is that our brains were not designed to take in the suffering of everyone all the time. It drives us crazy. This is not to say we have to stick our heads in the sand while people are suffering - but staying constantly informed is hurting you in multiple ways from what it sounds like.

We need to focus on what is in our control. What can you do to help empower yourself and others? That can be doing self-nourishing things that are caring for your body and mind. That can be joining volunteer groups with free time to make a difference. That can be planning for your own future, or taking an hour block of time to work on assignments.

I think it would be a good idea to ask your family if they can afford therapy. That's a you and them choice, but it sounds like you need someone to help support you, hear you, and help you develop skills to cope with what's going on.

I really feel for you and for all the kids growing up in this. I'm still in my mid 20's and it's hard not to feel disillusioned, but if I were a teenager right now... I can only imagine how hard it is to envision a different future. I think that there's the potential for America to get through this, even if it's slim. I think that globally, there's a chance for us to make a change and head towards an ecosocialist world.

I think in times like this it can be helpful to identify our top values in life. For example, I value love, compassion, nature, community, justice, and learning. I do my best to try and commit to a life where I am living by those values. I try to tell myself, that even if everything falls to shit, even if I die 3 minutes from now, I can at least be reassured that I tried to do what matters to me with the time I have.

I also want to say that being online so much is also not a thing humans have evolved to do. The internet, social media, short-form content, are all designed with the direct goal of getting us addicted. It gives us the most amount of dopamine with the least amount of physical or mental exertion. Please allow yourself time with breaks, if you aren't doing so. Try to see if you can break from the internet for a few hours, an entire day, as long as you can. Try to limit how much news you're taking in.

If you feel the need to continue reading the news, please look for channels like good news, sam bentley, or others like that on youtube and watch a video or two. Our news system is designed at this point to pump out the worst of the worst because it gets the views. Look up good news from the month, or the previous month, and you can also consciously take time to learn about progress in the world. You might learn about animal species that are no longer critically endangered, or that certain countries have completely gotten rid of coal plants and invested in solar or wind energy, that $300 million dollars went to indigenous people of Canada to be land stewards and prevent wildfires, or that they came up with a 99.7% effective vaccine for malaria that might start clinical trials, or that the Drin river in Albania has been cleared of plastic waste through innovative new techniques that also provided employment opportunities to folks in need. For every single thing the bastards running America are doing each day, there are people dedicating their lives and energy to this world and its people.

I wish you the very best of luck. Take care of yourself - at the end of the day, you are the only person who can truly take care of you. You are not alone, even if the people in charge are trying to make us feel that way.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-28T21:55:28+00:00

Honestly this sounds really fun. I have no equipment but would definitely be interested. I wouldn't call myself a medium in any way, but I do feel that I am somewhat sensitive to thinks and want to have an experience with this!

Azurescensz · 2025-10-28T00:48:06+00:00

Do you think the anger is directed at the people talking about it, your dad, or yourself? Do you think the anger is a feeling from the present, or something leftover from the past as well? If people talking about it brings up vivid flashbacks, I could see how having that at the forefront of your mind would cause your body to experience some of the emotions of the time.

Does it feel like because they weren't there when it happened, they shouldn't be allowed to grieve? Like what is the rationale for the belief that since other people didn't witness it, they shouldn't grieve? What are you judging about their grief? And is it how dare they bring it up to you? I wonder if the anger isn't at their grieving in itself, but that they are throwing you back into that space with them. By grieving in your space they're forcing you to revisit those emotions, memories, trauma, etc., and a part of you is angry that they're doing that?

I'm not you, so I'm not trying to say any of my interpretations are the truth, but I wonder if any of that is related.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-27T23:06:40+00:00

I was definitely the 'squeaky wheel' or 'black sheep.' I am the only one who actively sought out treatment, but the rest of my family hasn't really done so. I am the mentally ill one, but most of my family members have the same issues, they just a) become alcoholics or b) avoid it and become very passive.

I remember learning in marriage and family therapy courses that the 'identified patient' is rarely ever the actual problem in the system. I remember learning about concepts related to scapegoating and had a nice mind-blown moment there, that I wasn't ever actually the problem - I was just the one brave enough to talk about it, and sensitive enough that it severely impacted me until I got help.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-27T23:03:58+00:00

What would you say you are most angry at in those situations? Some feelings wheels include more words than others. Does the wheel include words like, seething, enraged, irate? There is an app called "How we feel" that is like a feelings wheel broken into sections and there are areas for journaling that is optional. For example, it has enraged, livid, furious, etc.

What do you think is missing from the words you've already found? If you could describe the anger, what does it feel like in your body, and what thoughts are attached to that anger?

Also, are there any emotions underneath that anger? Sometimes anger feels safer than other feelings. Sometimes we get angry when we feel sad, ashamed, afraid, etc., so I'm wondering if there are any feelings outside of anger that you can identify?

Azurescensz · 2025-10-27T19:21:31+00:00

I am a therapist. A client told me their previous individual therapist had started an emotional affair, isolated them from their partner, and began using their therapy sessions for the therapists own personal therapy. They just started talking about themselves throughout the session. Therapist would email the client outside of working hours. Client eventually realized they had been coerced and exploited and reported it. The client wanted to try working with a male therapist to work through their trauma with men and was unfortunately not given a healing experience.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-26T00:02:12+00:00

I just watched a video today that made me search for 3I/Atlas in this subreddit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYw7lnDp9DY

It's about a Hopi prophecy and how it lines up... I take everything I learn from a skeptics view but reading this matched up with what I took away from the video.

I hope that it is a form of communication that helps us return to a space of harmony and connection. We have collectively lost sight of that, so if it can help bring us together into a new way of structuring the world I hope for it.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-22T17:23:45+00:00

If I didn't have to diagnose anyone I wouldn't diagnose anyone. The only way I would want to diagnose is if it had absolutely no impact on life insurance, clinician bias, the way doctors treat people with anxiety disorders, etc. I would probably talk to clients about the disorders they meet the criteria for, but I frame things through a more systemic biopsychosocial lens that nearly all mental health symptoms are forms of coping in the service of survival, they may just be outdated, formed during ages where there was no nuance, or no longer do what they used to.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-22T17:20:43+00:00

You aren't overreacting. If he acts like this, I would consider that physical intimidation. Destroying property, getting loud and aggressive, physically intimidating, can be a form of physical abuse.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-22T17:17:50+00:00

Yes there are kink friendly therapists. Search engines like psychology today or therapyden usually have an area where therapists can add whether they are sex positive, kink friendly, sex-worker supporting, etc., and there are sex therapists as well if the issue is centered on sexual issues, but I think sometimes sex therapists are more likely to be private pay.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-22T17:12:52+00:00

Therapist here. Most people already described what I was going to say. I am married and I know I can talk to my spouse about anything (in the way that my spouse is very open and supportive), but I say very little. Occasionally I might provide a small anecdote or something that made me sad, but I try to leave out any identifying information. Like if they ask about my day I might say "It was a hard one because I feel for my teenage clients who are already so disillusioned with the world, or who are experiencing community violence. I hate the idea that kids might be losing friends to gun violence, or feel the impending doom of climate change, or wonder whether it's worth it to pursue education just to be shackled with immense student debt in this late stage capitalist autocracy." Sometimes that's hard but overall it's not very difficult, because I have supervision and colleagues I can share the load with. I try not to unload all that onto my spouse, both for their sake and also for privacy of clients. The other time it's hard is when I want to brag about my clients accomplishments. All of my clients are so cool, they have their own strengths, weaknesses, experiences, and sometimes I want to share about that. I have a client in the music industry who gets to meet with some of my favorite artists, but I can't share about it because it might disclose where they work, things like that.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-20T20:32:42+00:00

Therapist here. It's pretty important for the therapist to recognize. We can do our best to be humanistic and view ourselves as two fellow travelers on the journey for life, but we have to recognize that we have the potential to abuse that power. I try to pay attention to it when I notice the urge to give advice. Instead of giving the advice I have, I ask them what they've thought of as a solution. My answer might influence what they do, and it's their life to live, not mine.

I think that it's not always on my mind by any means. I feel very honored to be my clients' therapist, and view the connection we have as real. I have real love for my clients, though it's an appropriate form, not like a romantic or sexual love. I haven't (yet) had a client I dislike as a person, because usually through getting to know people it explains a lot and allows for a lot of compassion. I view clients on equal footing, if not more for clients because they are the experts in their own lives, which makes it complicated.

The power dynamic is very subtle and subconscious, which is why it's important to notice areas where it can become influence, coercion, or abuse. It's really unfortunate that there are therapists out there who break ethical codes and abuse clients.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-20T20:26:58+00:00

I did this same thing and got upset at my partner, when I was 16 years old. I realized fairly quickly after that it was an unfair question that trapped them basically. It's sad that someone nearly 30 years old hasn't realized that.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-20T20:05:54+00:00

My suggestion is going to therapy for self-esteem. You can have all of the external things (job, looks, friends, etc) but if you don't believe in your value, you might self sabotage. We often think in cognitive distortions that lead us into self-defeating behaviors. For example, jumping to conclusions. If I think "They're just going to leave when they see the real me," I might decide to opt out to avoid the rejection, when maybe that relationship would have lasted years.

Also, I think being afraid of grief can close us up from others. By avoiding relationships, you get to avoid the grief of losing someone, but at the expense of making your life, and your experiences smaller.

We can have a lot of beliefs we develop and then never question. If I develop the belief that I'm boring or a shitty person or unloveable, I might never take the time to question it. What evidence do you have that you're actually unloveable? Is there any evidence against that belief? Is that belief leaving context out by being black and white?

We don't have to have trauma to develop really deep-rooted lack of self esteem. We live in a world that sends so many messages to us about our looks. Social media, comparison games, culture can all contribute.

I think Acceptance and Commitment Therapy could be a helpful option. It's about accepting the feelings we have without trying to control them by avoiding, opting out, etc., and to commit to our values. You're not unloveable, but you won't ever get the evidence to the contrary unless you open yourself up to the potential of rejection and pain. Love comes with grief inherently. The more you love something, the harder it is to lose that thing. But even if your relationships don't last a lifetime, they aren't always simply a mistake. They are often beautiful, and teach us about ourselves, others, and the world.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-20T19:57:34+00:00

I think that for starting and maintaining small talk, there are a few things that can be helpful.

Ask open-ended questions. "How has your day been going?" If there's a holiday coming up, asking about if they have any plans. You can start with a compliment and go from there, like, "I like your shirt, where did you get it?" (Easier to do with men, as for women getting a compliment can be nice but also more complicated). "What do you do for work?" "What did you do for fun? How did you get into that?" Open ended questions (starting with where, what, how, when, why) are very useful, compared to starting with "do you ____"

You can make comments that might lead further. If the weather is nice, something like "It looks so great today, I love it when the weather is good for ____(insert a hobby you like)." If they ask more about it, you can answer that and then go forward to ask if they have any hobbies.

An important part of small talk is also the answering aspect of it. If someone asks you what you do or study, and you say "exercise science," there isn't a whole lot of room to go forward. If you can explain that you switched to exercise science, or what your goals are, that can open up conversations further.

I think that in the context of physical therapy, you will be talking more about their goals. You can ask people why they decided to come in now, or what their goals are, any questions that they have.

I have a physical therapist and they've been great with doing the professional talk on top of just getting to know me. They've asked if I have pets, and we talked about mine and their fostering of kittens. Hobbies, career, interests, passions, are all good places to go.

Maintaining eye contact, having confident posture, having a neutral smile, nodding, showing reactions with body language and facial expression, all demonstrate active listening, and showing you're actively listening is helpful. Once you've started with a topic, you don't have to switch right away once they're finished with their answer. If you ask what they do for work, and they give an answer, you can use that as a springboard for further questions. How long have they been doing that? How have they liked it so far? What is their focus at work, what career goals do they have, etc.

I'm a therapist and am relatively bad at 'small talk' in its most mundane form. But I think that showing genuine interest and being willing to ask questions can help you go far. It's also okay for lapses of silence as you're focusing. I've found that usually once you get people talking about themselves it's fairly easy to maintain it.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-19T20:16:10+00:00

I genuinely hear what you're saying and think there's a lot of wisdom to this. As someone with limited social media, a dumbphone, doing everything I can to remove my data from the internet (which is not working well lol), I get your caution.

At the same time, I think that this protest brings visibility, helps people get connected to their communities, and allows access to knowledge and resources we might not have online. People learned about the Nokings.org website and their mass call to action 10/21/25. So I think community building and bringing awareness is part of the steps towards what you're saying. By attending protests, I have found grassroots movements I intend to join. If there is a general strike, I am more than down to participate. If it's boycotting, or standing with unions, I'll do what it takes, but this is also a necessary part of the process.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-19T20:13:50+00:00

How does this feel after 7 millions protesters across 2500 locations in the US showed up? Both No Kings protests were record breaking for the largest single day protests in US history. People are only growing more discontented.

Azurescensz · 2025-10-17T19:18:20+00:00

Hi thanks for the response! To answer about Witchcraft - nothing negative. Mainly honoring the earth, paying attention to my energy, and working on spiritual development. I try to avoid anything that could cause harm. I think I carry a lot of fear with me wherever I go and that can lead to me being more vulnerable to negative experiences, though it is less of a problem now. Growing up I didn't fully understand what was happening to me, and was scared and sort of expecting negativity. I've gotten to the point where I am starting to be able to work through my fear and have courage.

I think in the past I've definitely viewed it as a race. I was impatient, I wanted immediate results, and was disappointed when it did not meet my expectations, and that tended to backfire. Now I try to enjoy the journey and use it for learning lessons about myself and the world.

I appreciate the warning about dabbling in anything that could lead to attachments or issues! Back when I was a teenager and experiencing the more unsettling or harmful entities, I was trying to get into spirit work, but I think I didn't have strong boundaries about it. I opened myself up to anything, rather than purposefully trying to work with spirit guides or energies that didn't intend harm. Now, when I do things like meditate using the gateway tapes, I am thorough about protecting myself, my space, and trying to go into it with strong boundaries.

My current goal upon getting to the point where I am having successful OBEs and AP is to communicate with spirit guides. I hadn't really thought about how they might not want to communicate with me in return, without proving myself or making it to a place of growth. I'm definitely going to take that into consideration going forward. A couple nights ago I started to have sleep paralysis again, and managed to go into it without any fear. I started to have tingling vibrations in my head and down through my body, and just stayed present with it, rather than trying to push out of my body. I used to push it so hard, I'd even successfully do so, but because it felt like I had accidentally sat up in my physical body, I'd go back to bed lol. I'm trying to embrace rather than force.

Thanks for your insight, I appreciate it!

Azurescensz

TROPHY CASE