I do nothing in my free time outside of work except cleaning and running errands. I have no life because of these things that always need done. I'm tempted to hire a cleaner once a week but I also feel weird about it because it's just 1 bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom.
But it might be worth it in order for me to have a life and to be able to go out and do something 'fun' for once. I've been very depressed due to lack of free time. My coworkers always talk about their fun weekends and trips, and I'm always like "I had a lot of housework to do." I'm so miserable.
Sometimes I actually leave work early on Fridays so that I can get a head start on my cleaning for the weekend. I spend all Saturday running errands, and all Sunday cleaning. I'm only in my 30s but my back aches from all this.
For those of you who have hired help - how did you decide it was time for help? How often did you hire them? (weekly, monthly, etc?) Did it make your life easier?

I've made two posts here about my workplace, but I felt it's better to give a better perspective on what it's like there. Please note it's a long post but it's really relevant.
I had a gap in my resume after working 8 years for the same company. I quit because of personal and financial reasons, which I wish I hadn't done, but we're past that. Nearly three years later, I got a job thanks to the efforts of my former colleague, who helped mediate my financial problems and had his friend, who's a job broker, recommend me for my current company. This company has a client who is a game developer from Israel, and my role is a senior consultant in customer support. What we do is respond to customer's queries on chat and email regarding the game. Of course, we get a lot of angry and abusive customers and a lot of comments relating to race and just plain abusive. We get extra privileges such as company cab pickup and drop for all shifts, and food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner(though I could do without that).
I joined in March, and in April, my problems started. First, my dad got sick, and he needed a surgical procedure for an abscess that pushed up his kidney and was making his back ache when he tried to sleep. I managed to get sick leave despite them clearly saying I could not take leave during training, which again my colleague and his friend managed with HR. My salary got deducted as a result which I didn't mind, I only wanted to work here for six months and move to another company for a better paycheck. The problems started in May when I unknowingly and unintentionally shared a screenshot of my team's details on a chat, which I immediately reported. They gave me a warning letter for that and said that in normal circumstances, I would be fired, but since I was in training, they said it was fine. Though they said this letter would fuck up my incentives, they again assured me it wouldn't happen since I was still in training.
For reference, they said I would be getting X amount after all deductions, but if I didn't get enough CSATs, the extra X amount on top of my take-home wouldn't be credited. Which was difficult considering how the game works and how the customers act. They tell you that you have to tell them that you can't do certain things which you know will piss off the customers and make them give you a bad rating, but they also say that if you're getting a bad rating because of telling the customers what the management wants you to tell, that they can't do anything and that you have to make up elsewhere or lose your incentives.
My colleague offered to get me a new job but asked me for a full month's salary slip that shows the salary you were offered when you joined and agreed to. I took no leave for the month and only relaxed on my week offs, which by the way changed regularly. For March and April, the week-offs were Saturday and Sunday, and for May it was Friday and Saturday. Now for June, it's Wednesday and Thursday. The timings were also the same. Until July I'm working the day shifts from 8:30 am to 6, and in July I will be shifting to evening at 6:00 pm to 3:30 am.
Now the second problem arose with a guy who was asking about something and I told him his timing of the relevant task was wrong, and he was furious. It was 30 minutes before my shift ended, and at the time of my logging off, he was still going. One of the supervisors on the floor told me to leave as I was taking my dad to a physiotherapy session after work, and I came the next day to find out that he had not let go of the issue until half an hour after I left and rated it bad, saying I'm accusing him of lying. Then they pulled me into a discussion because I addressed him by his first name. For reference, his first name was Dick, and I addressed him as such. That's not to be done apparently, and if the name sounds like something else, it should not be used. They warned me that this should be the last discussion they had with me.
Now we get our salary on the first of each month(the salary cycle is calculated from the 26th of the previous month to the 25th of the current month), and I was surprised to see that I received less on my take home. I am planning to talk with the compensation team, but I feel this is deliberate. My attendance was 100% for last month as the floor supervisor confirmed, but somehow it was deducted. To top it off, the site that downloads your salary slip has been under maintenance and will be for another two months, and I'm not sure if the compensation team will also email me the salary slip. And if this discrepancy is not a discrepancy, I worry I have to work another month to get the relevant salary slip, and I don't know what obstacles I'll face then.
I seriously am at a loss on what to do.

so basically i’ve been taking levo (50mcg) every day for about three weeks now, and since i’ve noticed an increase headaches, stomach aches and nausea. i have a lot of weird stomach pains normally but i feel like im just feeling sick in my stomach more than i used to, and every day i’ve had a headache. could this be because of the levothyroxine? is so, will it go away? thank u

So I've used RH, Webull, and IBKR. Say I have $500 and I go all in on $500. And I make 2k profit (this is hypothetically) what brokerage other than webull allows you to trade the 2k instantly that you just made? Just looking to get a list of brokerages that allow it. I know webull does. Who else though?
I would use webull but it takes days for my money to clear when depositing. I can't use wires on my banking app, so I can only use wise and ach transfer.

So for a year I've been using my.Razer Opus X for listening to music on spotify, because my phone doesn't have a jack but for a while I've been hearing some light buzz-ringing in the right earphone and after using them for like an hour straight they kinda get too warm and my ears hurt. And so I was wondering what headphones I could buy for up to 150$. I'm probably asking for a bit much but here's some requirements: I'd like them to be over-ear or at least pretty comfortable so I can use them for at least a bit more than an hour without feeling tired and my ears aching (I guess this means I'd probably have to go with some open back ones?), I also generally love the texture and details in music (so obviously I'd like some quality ones) and so I'll probably need wired ones (I just put this flair cause I had to choose one and buy an adapter) but if there are somehow some budget wireless ones that check this lmk please. However, I also wanna ask: Is it even worth it buying another model for this price and requirements? I'm anyways going to have to replace these ones but I was thinking if some more quality ones for this price would even make a decent difference on spotify (maybe I guess once Hi-Fi or some higher quality option will get released some day) because music is my passion right now but Idk if my parents would accept me buying some "expensive" ones. Anyways thanks for reading this and ANY sort of help is welcome! Have a great day!

Hey I am SO fed up! I did everything right and lost 3 pounds last week. Lost 15kg so far. Then I had too much sauerkraut the other day and it made my tummy funny for 2 days but I don’t think it should make me gain 3 pounds? I carried on my normal weight loss routine then another pound.. then another!! How is that even possible!? Even burning more than I did last week and similar eating patterns. My ovulation isn’t even until next week so it’s not that weight gain either. I’m really upset I worked my ass off losing the weight just for it to come back for absolutely no reason… and it can’t be because of a 2 day tummy ache! I know everyone says water retention but 5 pounds in 4 days!?

Have you ever wondered what you can do to get rid of that pesky stomach ache or bloated feeling?
If so, you’re in luck. Today, we’re highlighting some helpful tips that can treat common digestive problems.

7 Natural Gut Health Hacks:

1) Drink Water in the Morning

Drinking water in the morning, especially before eating, can improve your digestion. Water helps break down the food you eat, which allows your body to absorb key nutrients. Drinking water also softens stools and can prevent constipation.
What’s more, drinking water before meals can help you feel fuller and avoid overeating.
Don’t limit your water consumption to one part of the day, though! Sipping water throughout the day can keep you hydrated and support optimal digestion.

2) Chew Your Food Slowly

Chewing your food is the first part of the digestive process. Chewing slowly promotes the breakdown of food into tiny particles. This makes it easier for your body to absorb the nutrients in food.
The production of saliva during chewing also signals the upper muscle in your stomach to relax. This allows food to enter your stomach more easily.
Interestingly, one study found that chewing your food slowly can satisfy hunger cravings and reduce food consumption between meals.
But that’s not all. Chewing your food slowly can also prevent you from swallowing excess air. This is a common cause of bloating.

3) Drink Herbal Teas

Peppermint oil is a natural treatment for:

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Functional dyspepsia
• Childhood functional abdominal pain
• Post-operative nausea

Peppermint oil relaxes the smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal tract, reduces visceral pain, inhibits the growth of pathogens, and prevents gut inflammation.
Chamomile can treat symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In fact, combining chamomile with myrrh and coffee charcoal can extend the remission phase in people with ulcerative colitis. Research shows this herbal blend is just as effective as the drug mesalamines.
Ginger is a popular treatment for:

• Nausea
• Heartburn
• Flatulence
• Diarrhea
• Loss of appetite

Incredibly, ginger has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer properties that may also reduce the risk of gastrointestinal cancers. Studies show that ginger prevents the growth and spread of cancer cells in liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, and gastric cancer.

4) Consume Fruit by Itself

Consuming fruit by itself at least an hour before or after a meal can aid digestion and provide your body with a quick source of energy and nutrients. This is because fruit is the fastest digesting food.
Eating fruit with slow-digesting foods such as starches and proteins can slow down the digestive process. This can lead to uncomfortable symptoms such as bloating, indigestion, and flatulence.
However, you can still enjoy fruit with other foods on occasion. Green leafy vegetables also digest more quickly and can be eaten with fruit without any side effects. Being mindful of your food combination choices may help alleviate digestive problems.

5) Eat Fiber-Rich Foods

Eating fiber-rich foods can naturally boost your gut health. Fiber is the indigestible plant material found in fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds.
Fiber bulks up stools and makes them easier to pass. This can normalize bowel movements and prevent both constipation and diarrhea. Adding more fiber-rich foods to your diet can also reduce your risk of the following:

• Diverticulitis
• Hemorrhoids
• Gallstones
• Kidney stones
• Colon cancer
• Acid reflux
• Ulcers.

11/20/2017
Log book of Det. Ryan Snow
Case #2798: The Appalachian Murders
When I woke up, I was in such a haze that I couldn’t make out where I was at first. My vision was a blur and all I could hear was the sounds of rushing water. I tried to move my limbs, but each muscle down to my little finger felt like lead weighing down on me, making it hard to breathe.
It felt like forever before the ringing in my ear was slowly swallowed out by a voice crying out from what sounded like a distance only to grow louder as it seemed to approach me from the void I had woken up in. It wasn’t until I heard my name that I recognized it was Kate’s voice, pleading and filled with tears.
I blinked away the blur, finding myself staring up at a water damaged ceiling, a single yellow light brightening the room. My head was pounding and my body still felt heavy, but I moved my head enough to turn and see where Kate was calling from. It took a moment, but I soon realized that she was lying on her back, strapped by her arms and legs to a metal table, looking to me with wide terrified eyes.
“Detective, please help!” She cried out. “Please don’t be dead! Please help me!”
“Bl-Black…Well…” I groaned out as I tried, painfully, to pick myself up off the stone floor, “Black…Well… Ah… Shit… Shit! Ms. Blackwell-“ I was gaining consciousness minute by minute as I finally took in the situation and got to my feet. However, the moment I had gotten to my feet and began running to Kate only to immediately fall back to the floor once again, my ankle getting caught by something heavy. I turned to see my ankle had been shackled to the floor by a cuff and chains. I searched my person to find my coat, along with my Glock had been taken, blood decorating my pants and sleeves. I placed a palm to my forehead to find blood when I lowered it down to look at the warm liquid slithering down from my scalp.
“Ms. Blackwell,” I returned my attention to her, examining what I could from my place on the floor, “are you alright, are you hurt?”
“I… I… I don’t… Don’t think so…” she managed to whine out.
“Where’s Mr. Raines?”
To this question, Kate looked away from me, sobbing being her only verbal response.
I went back to the shackles on my ankle and began trying to yank the chains off from the floor, but they had been well maintained and were too strong for me to simply yank out of the stone. I then quickly looked around the room to find we were in a different basement from the one in Cabin #3, though it had the same kind of layout, the table the only major difference. I also took note of the blood stains that trailed from the sides of the table and the dried pools below.
“I want my mom!” Kate cried out, her voice echoing in the empty room.
“I’ll get you to her, I will, I promise,” I assured her, trying to find something, anything to get us out of this, “do you remember how we got down here?”
“I… I… I just re-remember… Remember you g-getting knocked out… Knocked out by someone and them… Them putting a rag over me… Then everything went black… Then I woke… Woke up… H-Here…” Kate answered, trying to breathe with each sob she let out. “I… I th-thought… y-you… You were d-d-… Dead!”
“I’m not, I’m very much alive and I’m going to get you out of here and back to your parents,” I vowed as I continued looking for a way out of this situation, “we’re going to get you out of here, get you home, and we’ll make sure no one ever gets hurt here ever-“
The sound of the basement door from the splintered wooden steps cut me off. I listened as feet descended down the steps to the basement below, Kate’s ragged breaths the only other sound. The person who came down was a woman. The same exact woman from the photo I had found in her house. She looked as if she had not aged since that photo was taken, despite how long ago it seemed the photo was taken. She had the same exact long, white hair, same tired looking eyes, and same disgustingly pale skin as in that photo and on her profile picture. It was Mrs. Larson.
“Deeeeeetectiiiiiiive,” she spoke in a hoarse voice mixed with what I assumed was her own and several others, both male and female, adult and child, “youuuuuuu shouuuullld haaaaaaaaave juuuuuuusssssst giiiiiven herrrrrrr toooooo meeeeee… Youuuuuuuu diiiiiiiiid nooooooot haaaaaave toooooooo ssssssseeeee thiiiiiissssss…”
“Fuck you!” I shouted, beginning to charge at the elderly woman only to be yanked back by my shackles. “Let us go, right now!”
“Nnnnooooo,” Mrs. Larson replied harshly as she stepped over to loom over Kate.
“Stay away from her!” I barked, trying desperately to break free of my shackles.
She ignored me as she ran a shaky hand down along Kate’s trembling face. “Ooooooooohhhhh, Kaaaaaate… Sweeeeet, sweeeeeeeet, Kaaaaaaaaaate…” Mrs. Larson cooed as she went on stroking Kate’s wet cheek. “Doooooo noooooooot crrrrrrryyyyyyy, dooooooonnnnnn’t thiiiiiiiiiinnnnk oooooofff iiiiiiiit aaaaaaaassssss dyyyyyyyyiiiiinnnnng, thiiiiiiiiinnnk ooooooooffff iiiiiiit aaaaaassssss ssssssssaaaaaaaaaviiiiiiinnng aaaaaannnnoooootherrrrrrrrr liiiiiiiiife.”
“I-I… I d-don’t… Don’t under-understand… w-what th-that… That m-means…” Kate cried, her hands gripping the sides of the metal table beneath her, “P-Please, d-don’t… Don’t kill me… L-Let… Let us-us go!”
“Nnnnnoooooo,” Mrs. Larson answered in the same harshness she used on me, “IIIIIIIII neeeeeeeed youuuuuuuuuu,” she then shot a death glare my way through tired, silver eyes, “aaaaaaaannnnnnd heeeeeeeeee’ssssssss beeeeeeeeeennnnnn nnnnnnnoooooooothiiiiiiiiinnnnnng buuuuut aaaaaa thooooooorrrrrrnnnn iiiiiiinnnnn myyyyyyyyy ssssssssiiiiiiiide siiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnccccccce youuuuuu eeeeeessssssscaaaaaaped meeeeeeee.” She then looked back to Kate with a softer look. “Aaaaaaaassssss fffffoooooorrrrr whaaaaaaaat youuuuuuu caaaaaannnn’t uuuuuunnnnnnderrrrrrssssssstaaaaaaannnnnnd, IIIIIIIIII nnnnnneeeeeeed yourrrrrrrrrr heaaaaaaaarrrrrt tooooooo ssssssssaaaaaavvvvvvve myyyyyyy ssssssiiiiiiiisssssssterrrrrrrr.”
“The fuck does that mean?” I demanded, still trying to vain to pull my ankle from the chains. “How the hell will Kate’s heart save your sister?”
“Diiiiiiiiidnnnnnn’t nnnnnnneeeeeeed toooooo beeeee Kaaaaaaate’sssssss,” admitted Mrs. Larson, “buuuuuuuut sssshhhhhheeeeee hiiiiiiiiid theeeeee ooooooootherrrrr giiiiirrrrrrllllll ffffffrrrrroooooommmmm mmmmmeeeeee.”
“S-Son… Sonja…” Kate sniffed, the tears still streaming down her face.
“IIIIIIII oooooooonnnnnlllllyyyyy neeeeed fffffffeeeeeemmmmmaaaaallllle,” Mrs. Larson dismissed Ms. Greymoore’s name, “ffffffeeeeeeemmmmmaaaaaallllle heaaaaaaaarrrrrrrtsssss toooooo rrrrrrreeeeeetuuuuurrrrrrnnnnn mmmmmmyyyyy ssssiiiiissssssterrrrrrrrr toooooo theeeeeeee giiiiirrrrrllllll ssssshhhhhheeeee uuuuuuuusssssed tooooo beeeeeee.”
“That’s a fucking joke right?” I asked. “The hell makes you think eating a female heart will turn your sister back into a human woman? Have you seen what’s happened to your sister?”
“IIIIIIIII knnnnnnnooooooow beeeeeeecaaaauuuuusssssse iiiiiiiiiiit wooooooorrrrrked ooooooonnnnn mmmmmeeeeee,” Mrs. Larson explained, “IIIIIIIIIII waaaaaasssss aaaaaaablllllllle toooooo reeeeeeetaaaaiiiiiinnnnnn thiiiiiiiiiisssssss huuuuuummmmmmaaaaaannnnn fffffffooooorrrrrrmmmm ffffffrrrrrooooommmm eeeeeaaaaatiiiiiinnnnnng theeeeeeee heaaaaaaaaarrrrrtsssss, sssssspecifffffficaaaaaaallllllyyyyyy fffffffeeeeeemmmmmaaaaallllleeee sssssssooooooo IIIIIIIIII mmmmmmaaaaaayyyyyy rrrrrreeeeetuuuurrrrrnnnnn toooo beeeeeiiiiinnnng theeeeeeee giiiiiirrrrrrrllllll IIIIIII uuuuuuusssssed toooooooo beeeeeee.”
“You were dead,” I pointed out, “they found your body up here, you were buried.”
“Theeeeeessssssse sssshhhhheeeeeellllllsssss arrrrrrre mmmmmeeeeeerrreeeellllyyy veeeeeessssssellllllssssss ffffffoooooorrrrrr theeeeeeee sssssspiiiiirrrrriiiiiitsssss weeeee hiiiiiiiiiiide beeeeeneeeeaaaaattthhhh,” Mrs. Larson responded, finally turning her gaze to me, “IIIIIIII haaaaaaad tooooooo maaaake peeeopllllle beeeelieevvvve IIIIIII haaaaaad diiiiiiied tooooo keeeeeep frrrrroooommm theeeee poooooollllliiiiicccce ffffrrrrrrooooommmm pooookiiiiiinnnng aaaaarrrrouuuuuunnnnd aaaaannnnnd rrrrruuuiiinnnnniiinnnng eeeevvvveeerrrrryyythiiiiinnnng.”
“So, let me just get this whole thing straight,” I began as I started rubbing my temples, "when you and your sister starting into… Whatever the hell that thing you call your sister is-“
“Ooooouuuurrrrr sssssspiiiiiirrrrrriiiiiit,” Mrs. Larson corrected.
“Whatever!” I shot. “You found out that eating female hearts turns you two back into human women and to keep police from suspecting you, you pretended to be dead and… What? Just hope a shitty real estate agency would buy your property and you could just… Kill people, people with lives and families outside the mountains?”
“Thaaaaaaaat iiiiiiisssss cooooorrrrrreeeeect…” Mrs. Larson admitted, narrowing her eyes at me.
That’s when I began laughing hysterically, holding my sides that hurt with each harsh breath of a laugh I took. Both Mrs. Larson and Kate looked to me as if I had lost my mind and at this point I was starting to believe I had. Everything I had seen and heard about this entire case would put anyone in the looney bin. And I’m the damn fool who dug too deep into something he had nothing to do with.
“Whaaaaaat’s ssssoooo ffffuuunnnny?” Growled Mrs. Larson, stepping around Kate to stand between us.
“I don’t know what’s fucking funnier, honestly,” I chuckled, running a hand through my hair, “the fact that you thing people won’t be poking around even more when they discover not only is Blackwell missing, but so is a detective and escaped convict all of whom now have ties to these fucking mountains and those cabins, or that you thing I’m more afraid of what you plan on doing with me more than I am when her father finds out I got her in this situation in the first place!”
“Heeeeeee wooooonnnnn’t beeeee aaaaabllllle toooooo doooo aaaaaannnnnyyyyythiiiiiinnnng aaaaaaafffffterrrrrrr IIIIIIIII’mmmmm dooooooonnnne wiiiiiiiith booooooth ooooooooffffff youuuuuuuuu,” Mrs. Larson hissed as she inched closer, “fffffffiiiiiiirrrrrrssssst, IIIIIIIII waaaaaannnnnt youuuuuuuu toooo waaaaaatch mmmmmeeeee kiiiiiiillllll herrrrrrr,” she turned her head to look to Kate who was now just shaking, her eyes seemingly gone dry from the crying, Mrs. Larson then looked back to me, “sssssseeeeecooooonnnnd, IIIIIIII wiiiiillllll ssssssaaaaave youuuuu fffffooooorrrr mmmmmmyyyyy sssssiiiiiisssssterrrrr, oooooonnnnne heeeeaaaaart wiiiiilllll nnnnoooot ssssssaaaaaatissssfffffyyyy herrrr huuuuuunnnnnger.” She took another step. “Uuuuuuuunnnnnllllliiiiiike sssssssoooooommmme ssssssiiiiiibllllliiiiiiinnnnnngsssss, IIIIIIIII caaaaaarrrre aaaaaaboooouuuuut mmmmmmyyyyy ffffffaaaammmmiiiiilllllyyyyyy.”
She stared into my eyes, expecting a reaction and while my blood did somewhat boil at the accusatory statement, I didn’t fully understand what she was getting at. Not until she used that voice. Not until she relived that day with those two familiar child-like voices.
“Screw you, Liam!” She cried out in a voice I remember from my childhood. “I hope you drop dead!”
“Stop.” I demanded.
“Piss off, Ryan!” She shot back in a second boy’s voice.
“I said stop!” I began shouting.
“Help me, Ryan! Please, help me! I’m sorry! Please, Lucky Dime, help me!”
I then lunged toward her, reaching my hands out toward her neck only to be stopped by the shackles as she swiftly, almost without even moving, stepped just out of my reach.
“Fucking bitch!” I screamed out.
“If only you really cared about me, Lucky Dime,” sighed Mrs. Larson as she turned and began making her way to the side of the room where a cart stood in the shadows. She pulled it over to Kate’s side, the cart covered in rusted medical tools.
“P-Please,” Kate wheezed, “p-p-please… I… I d-d-don’t w-want… Want t-to d-d… D-Die, I… I w-w-want m-m-m… My m-mom!”
“Dooooonnn’t woooorrrrryyyyy,” Mrs. Larson soothed, using that mix of different voices, “mmmmmmaaaayyyyybeeee sheeee wiiiillll cooooommmme loooookinnnng ffffooooorrrr yooouuuuu aaaaannnnnd sheeeeeee caaaaannnnn joooooiiiiiinnnn youuuuuuu.”
Kate began to sob, begging and pleading for Mrs. Larson to let her go, thrashing around in her restraints. Telling the older woman that there was no saving her sister and that she was too far gone for this sick ritual to work anymore. I tried to yank at the chains once more, trying to loosen it at least enough to break free and grab at Mrs. Larson.
“Rrrrrrreeeeellllllaaaaax,” Mrs. Larson ordered as she began filling a syringe with some kind of clear liquid from a small bottle, “yoooouuuuuu woooooonnnn’t eeeeeveeennn fffffeeeellll iiiiiiit, thiiiissssss wiiiiiillllll puuuuuut youuuuu toooo ssssssllllllleeeeeep aaaaaannnnnnd wheeeeeennnnnn youuuuuu waaaaaake uuuuuuuup, youuuuuuu’lllllll beeee iiiiiinnnnnn heeeeeaaaaaaveeeennnnn… Uuuuuunnnnnnnllllllessssss youuuuuuu weeeerrrrrrre aaaaaa haaaaaarrrrrlllllooooooot, iiiiiiinnnnnn whiiiiiiiich caaaaaassssssseeeee, mmmmmaaaayyyy Goooooood haaaaaaaave mmmmmmmmerrrrrrrcccccyyyyy ooooonnnnn youuuuuur ssssssoooouuuuullllll… Aaaaannnnnd baaaaaaasssssed ooooonnnn hoooooow youuuuuu drrrrressss aaaaannnnnd theeeee coooommmmpaaaannnnyyyy youuuuuu keeeeeep,” She added as she eyed me, “IIIIIII ssssssaaaaaayyyy youuuuu haaaaaave aaaaa lllllloooooot ooooooffff fooooooorrrrgiiiiiviiiiinnnnng tooooo dooooo.”
Kate continued to cry as Mrs. Larson pushed the needle of the syringe into her arm, pushing down on the plunger as it pierced the flesh. Kate’s loud screams soon turned quieter and her red eyes began to glaze over, but she continued to stay awake, tightening her grip on the table and still begging to be let go.
“IIIIII waaaaannnnt youuuuu toooo waaaaatch, Detective,” Mrs. Larson spat out my title in Mr. Blackwell’s voice, “IIIII waaaaannnnnt youuuuu toooo waaaaatch herrrrrr fffffaaaaaade aaaaaannnnnnd mmmmmeeeee rrrrreeeemmmmooooove heerr heeeaaaarrrrrt toooooo ffffffeeeeeed tooooo mmmmmmyyyyyy ssssssiiiiiiiissssssterrrrrr,” she then pulled out a recorder, “theeeeennnnnn wheeeeeennnnn IIIIIII ssssssuuuuummmmoooooonnnnn herrrrrrr aaannnnd sheeeee fffffiiiinnnniiiishessssss oooooofffffff heeeerrrrr heeeaaaaarrrrrt, youuuuuuu’llllllll beeeeee neeeeeext.”
“Fuck you,” I snarled, “I hope you and your sister burn.”
“IIIIIIIII’mmmmm gooooonnnnnaaaaa gooooo aaaaallllllerrrrrrt mmmmmyyyyy ssssssiiiiiiissssterrrrrr,” Mrs. Larson turned and began making her way to the basement steps, “ssssseeee youuuuu boooooth ffffffoooooorrrr diiiiiinnnnnnerrrrrrr.”
She then pressed the play button on her recorder and a small, little girl’s voice echoed in the room before Mrs. Larson vanished up the steps.
“I’m here… I’m here… I’m here…”
Then the door slammed shut.
“De… Tec… Tive…” Kate squeaked out, her breathing slowing.
“Stay awake, Blackwell,” I ordered her gently, looking around frantically for anything to get us both out of this alive, “I’ll get us out of this, I promise, just stay awake, we’ll get out of here, I just need-“
“I’m… S… Sorry…” she breathed out. “I’m… So… Sorry… For… Get… Getting… You… In… To.. This…”
“No, no, this is not your fault!” I assured her. “That psychotic bitch got us both into this shit and I won’t stop until I get us out and put her and her fucking sister are six feet under!”
“W…Wha… What… H… Hap… Happened… To… To L… Liam…?”
I stopped struggling with the chains and turned to look to Kate. Her head was turned to me, her face wet, hands clenching as hard as they could to the table beneath her, the light in her eyes slowly fading second by second. She was trying desperately to stay awake. The medication Mrs. Larson taking hold of her as the minutes ticked by.
I dropped the chains that were in my hands, looking away from her, wanting to stare at anything other than another person I had failed.
“He was killed,” I answered, “we were fishing at a lake nearby… Lake Gaagige… We got into a really stupid ass fucking fight about how which fishing pole we were going to use. I wanted to use our dad’s, but Liam was older and said only men could use dad’s fishing pole… I told him… To drop dead and stormed off… When I got home, my parents dragged me back to the lake and scolded me for leaving him…” I trailed off, swallowing all the tears and screams I’d bottled up since that day. “When… We found… Him… The autopsy… Said he was mauled by a bear… I’ve blamed myself for leaving him there alone… For letting him die and getting killed like that… The last thing I ever told him was to drop dead… I was a shitty brother and now I’m a shitty detective…”
“Is… Is he… Why… You became… A… Detective…?”
I took a deep breath and swallowed the tears again. “No, Blackwell,” I answered, “he’s not why I became a detective… I already knew what had killed him… It was my fault… If I hadn’t been such a brat and stormed off… He might still be alive… And now… What that bitch said…” I replayed Liam’s screams that escaped Mrs. Larson’s mouth. “I’m starting to think I’m getting what I deserve. Karma’s back to kick my ass…”
“H… How… Old…?”
“I was six… Liam was eight…”
“N… N… Not your… F… Fault…”
I turned to look to Kate, her eyes on mine, however faded.
“Y… You were… Only… A k… Kid…”
I took another intake of what little air there was down in that basement. I had spent years trying to convince myself of the same thing, but those moments never got easier for me when those thoughts returned.
“I think you’re just being nice,” I laughed painfully, “but I’m afraid I- and my folks- don’t share the same sentiment.”
I was staring down at where the chains were coming from in the ground, Kate not saying a word for over a couple of minutes. I spun to see if she had fallen asleep and immediately tried to find out how to wake her up again. However, once I our eyes met, I saw that she was still fighting sleep, the last of her tears rolling down across the bridge of her nose and into her hair.
“I… I… I had… Had a c… Crush… O… On… J… Jasper…” she confessed, her voice getting quieter and higher. “P… Paul and… And Son… Sonja knew… I never… Never c… Cared f… For Luke… But I’m… Sure… S… Sonja t… Told him…” she looked like she was going to sob again. “I… I never g… Got the… Ch… Chance… T… To tell J… Jasper… I… Was… Scared… He… He and… P… Paul were friends… And I… I kn… Knew… How P… Paul f… Felt… A… About m… Me… I… I did… Didn’t wa… Want to… R… Ruin… Anyth… Anything…” She took a gulp of air. “I… I ha… Hated L… Luke… I… A… Always… Kn… Knew… He… He was a… Player… B… But Sonja… Said… Said she was hap… Happy… So… So I did… Didn’t wa… Want to g… Get in… H… Her way… B… But Luke d… Didn’t l… Like h… How cl… Close… We… Were… I d… Didn’t w… Want him to make… Make her th… Think I… I was l… Leading her o… On… T… To get them… To b… Break up… Th… Then… That n… Night… Sh… She w… Wanted to… To leave…” She let out two pained gasps of breath. “I… I let them down… I let them all down… Luke pro… Probably thought… Thought I w… Was the one who… Who f… Filled Sonja’s mind… With thoughts of… Of him ch… Cheating… Th… Then I… I got them… All killed…
I… I didn’t deserve them, d… Detective…” she went on, looking away from me to stare up at the water damaged ceiling, “I… I… I was a… Terrible… Terrible friend…”
“Did you read their guest book entries?” I asked.
“N… No… D… Didn’t w… Want to… To r… Read any… Anything p… Private…” Kate answered.
“Jasper didn’t blame you,” I assured her, remembering what he had written in his entry during his time watching Mrs. Larson just outside the cabin, “even when he heard the voices- when he heard Mrs. Larson- telling him to, he didn’t. I don’t think the others blamed you either. You didn’t do anything wrong, Ms. Blackwell, there’s no way you could have known any of this would happen.”
“K… Kate…”
“What?”
“C… Call… Call me… Kate…”
“Aright, Kate,” I let out what little laughter I had left inside me, “so long as we’re the last people we’ll be chatting with, call me Ryan.”
“R… Ryan…”
“If we at all live through this, I’m going to need a long vacation after this,” I said as I turned to look at my shackles again, looking around myself to try finding anything to Get free since a vacation sounded like something to die for at that moment, “do you know any good vacation spots I can book for the fall?”
“Y… You’re… You’re a… Dick…” Kate struggled to laugh.
“I also enjoy pineapple on pizza,” I winked as I reached down to my ankle, ready to break it just to taste that sweet combination of tomato sauce and fruit.
“G… God… I… I c… Can’t… Believe… I th… Thought y… You w… Were c… Cute…”
I sat down on the floor, grabbing my ankle with both my hands. Needing to hype myself up enough to do what I was going to do, I began removing my shoe and sock from the foot, rubbing and squeezing my way up and down the ankle to my toes. I had never broken a bone in my life before this and I definitely never thought I’d do it of my own volition, but this was a desperate time and it definitely called for desperate…
“Wait what?” I turned to look to Kate, finally registering what she had said.
However, just before I could be sure of what I heard, the sound of a hunting rifle going off just above our heads right before we heard the door to the basement swing open and immediately be slammed shut. Both Kate and I turned to see someone stumble down the wooden steps, his clothes torn and body scratched and cut to a nearly deadly degree. I was even shocked he was still breathing.
“M… Mr… R… Raines…?” Kate gasped out.
“What’s left of me at least,” Mr. Raines grumbled as he limped over to Kate and quickly began undoing her straps to the table, “damn thing almost ripped my head off, but one swing of the barrel to its eye and I was able to get away… Can’t say it didn’t do its damage though… I’m… Getting really fucking hungry…”
He shook his head violently before limping over to me. He then raised an eyebrow at me when he saw how I was positioned still on the floor with a bare foot in my hands shackled to the floor.
“I… I was… I… I thought you were-“ I stammered.
“I am,” Mr. Raines interrupted, “at least, I’m on my way there anyway.” He then retrieved my Glock from his back pocket. “I don’t know what that thing did to me, but I’m not gonna make it out of this alive, or the way I came in. It’s a massacre out there by the way. Lot of men in blue bodies out there… Very… Hard to ignore… Sure more will be on their way. So.”
With that, Mr. Raines pointed at my chains and pulled the trigger on my clock, barely giving me time to cover my ears as the sound rung out loudly in the basement. I shook my head, trying to undo the blurry and ringing side effects of the sound of a gun going off near your head. I gave the older man a glare before standing and snatching my Glock from his hands. That’s when I saw Kate shifting herself to the side of the metal table she was no longer tied to, trying to get her limbs to comply with her to help her off and on to the floor.
I ran over and grabbed her just as she nearly stumbled face first to the floor and lifted her up to her feet, her body heavy with lack of keeping herself up.
“Do you think you can walk?” I asked, trying to keep her on her feet.
“I… I don’t… I…” Kate stammered as she tried to push herself off of me while also using using me as a crutch until she could stand on her own. However, she didn’t seem to be able to put any kind of pressure on her legs without falling down.
“Kate?” A girl’s voice called out from above us.
Feeling Kate shudder, I realized that it must have been the sound of Sonja’s voice and Mrs. Larson was using her to keep Kate from running. I quickly swung my arm down behind her knees, pressing the other down on her back as I lifted her up off the floor, my Glock at the ready as I kept it pointed in front of me while my arm held up Kate’s knees.
“She must have heard the gunshots,” I pointed out, “how’d you get past her in the first place?”
“I set the other cabins on fire,” Mr. Raines answered as if it were the simplest of answers, “I had to distract her somehow and give those bodies she’d been eating a better fate than becoming her shit.”
“Are you planning on setting this place on fire too?” I asked.
“‘Course I am!” Mr. Raines exclaimed, seemingly offended I’d even ask. “I already doused it in gasoline, I ain’t wasting all that time!”
“Kate!” Sonja’s voice cried out, getting closer to the basement door. “Are you seriously leaving me here to die alone again!”
“Please… Make it… Stop…” Kate sniffed as she gripped my shirt and burying her face into the fabric.
“Let’s get you two out of here.” Mr. Raines began leading the way to the basement stairs, cocking his rifle as he did so.
“What about you?” I asked, immediately following after him.
Mr. Raines didn’t answer as he stomped up the stairs and kicked the door open to the first floor of the cabin. The stench of the gasoline he had spilled hitting me harshly in my face.
“Kate!” Sonja’s voice, along with a different crescendo of male voices shrieked out as Mrs. Larson appeared from the corner of the hallway where the basement was located.
“Leighton?” A different woman’s voice asked the moment the old woman’s eyes spotted Mr. Raines. I then watched in both shock and confusion as it almost looked like the very skin on the woman melted off to reveal a much younger woman. The woman I recognized as Bonnie Collins. “Leighton… Love is that you?”
Mr. Raines kept his rifle on the vision of the woman he once loved before her murder, but didn’t move or speak.
“Darling, I’ve missed you so much!” The fake Bonnie cried out as she began making her way to Mr. Raines with arms open wide to hug him.
Mr. Raines then lifted his gun up higher, placing his finger on the trigger which caused the vision to stop in her place.
“Leighton?” The fake Bonnie asked. “Baby, it’s me… Bun-Bun… Don’t you recognize me…?” She began to tear up.
“You’re not my Bunny,” Mr. Raines growled before he shot once at the woman.
The fake Bonnie swiftly dodged the bullet, an inhuman hiss coming from an unhinged mouth, revealing a row of long, sharp teeth. The skin of Bonnie then melted off to reveal another woman, a lot younger than the first one it intimidated. The face of one of the victims upon being brought on this case.
“Kate,” the fake Sonja called out, “Kate, what are you doing? Who are these men? Why are they trying to hurt me?”
Kate let out a sobbing gasp, her nails digging into my shoulder with her arm wrapped around my neck.
“Didn’t I suffer enough?” The fake Sonja asked. “First my boyfriend and now you? Why don’t you want to be with me anymore?”
“Shut up!” Kate demanded. “You’re not Sonja! You killed her, you killed all of them! I don’t care what happens to me, but I’m not letting their memories end with you!”
Kate then snatched my Glock from my hand under her legs and shot directly at the fake Sonja’s head. Again the shot missed as the fake vision of the girl slithered out of the way, a frustrated growl of a dog and human escaping it’s mouth. It then zipped to the side, cowering with its back to us on the floor.
“Lucky dime…” A child’s voice then took over. The vision’s skin melting now to a much smaller figure. “Is this what you want? To kill me all over again?” He turned to look up at me, Liam’s face forever eight-years-old staring up at me. “It’s no wonder mommy and daddy hate you now… You were always a shitty brother… Now, I’m gonna starve to death because you’d rather help a couple of strangers.”
“I’m sorry, Liam,” I replied, everyone, including the fake Liam looking to me in surprise, “I left you alone out here and that’s what got you killed by that thing out there and I’m sorry. But, if I’d stayed it may have been both of us and then mom and dad would have no one left to blame but each other. If you had left and I was the one killed, you’d probably be in my shoes instead. I’m sorry for letting you get killed, but I’m gonna make up for it now.”
I then took my Glock back from Kate and pointed it to the vision of Liam.
“Good bye, Liam.”
I shot the gun once again, missing the creature again, however, this time I just kept shooting, Mr. Raines following after. Our different bullets just kept firing, the thing dodging and trying to get closer to us. The creature screeched out at us in a myriad of different voices both familiar and unknown. It wasn’t until one shot from my Glock struck the creatures shoulder and Mr. Raines’ rifle struck its head when the skins of everyone it was trying to turn into all melted off, revealing Mrs. Larson once again.
However, this time, she looked shriveled, older than she looked before. Her face looked deformed, beginning to grow furry, her eyes growing nothing but red, no irises, no pupils, just red. Her hair grew longer, branches like antlers growing painfully out from her skull, breaking the skin as they grew larger. The lower half of her face grew elongated, turning into that of a muzzle of fangs and a drooling mouth.
“You… All… Have no rrrrrrriiiiiight!” A different, unknown voice snarled out from what used to be Mrs. Larson. “People liiiiiike you all… Abandoned me and myyyyyyyyy sister!” The fur growing around this thing grew out short and shaggy, the cloths it was using melting off with the skin and flesh it was wearing. It now didn’t look anything like a human woman. It now took the form of a large wolf mixed with that of a deer, it’s body dog-like with hooves, antlers, and a long, scraggly tail. “You lot abandoned us here! You left us all here to diiiiiiiie!”
Guilt was weighing down on me with each syllable it was growling. Kate looked away from it, burying her face in my neck as Mr. Raines lowered his rifle.
“Nooooow, you’re bringing more here to just leave and let die out here!” It went on, it’s horrifying, broken body shuddering. “Why let them just vanish and die up here when they can bring people like my sister and I back? Give me Kate’s heart and fix what you threeeeeeeeee failed!”
Mr. Raines then handed over his rifle to Kate, placing it down on her stomach as her hands were still wrapped around my neck. The older man made his way over to stand over the thing, its neck creaking like a rusted door as it turned its wolf-like head to look up at him.
“Leighton…” Bonnie’s voice came from the creature. “Give mmmmeeeee her heart aaaannnnd we can be togetherrrrr again… If you eat the deeeeeetective’s we can saaaaaave you tooooooo…”
“My Bunny’s dead,” Mr. Raines told it as he dug in his pocket and took out a carton of matches, “and so am I.”
“You’d burn your wife?” A mix of Bonnie and Mrs. Larson’s voices shrieked as it glared at the match he took from the match box.
“You’re not my wife,” Mr. Raines told it, “and I’ll never see her again.”
“Fooooooool,” Mr. Larson’s voice chuckled, “you’llllllll killllllll us both!”
“With the shit I’ve done in my life, I know you’re taking me to Hell with you,” Mr. Raines growled back as he struck the match on the box, “so I’m sure as fuck not afraid to burn here on Earth with you!”
Mr. Raines then dropped the match to the floor right before the creature and everything around the two of them immediately went up in flames, the fur of the creature catching quickly and engulfing it. An agonized shriek echoed out all around us, the creature thrashing in the fire it had gotten swallowed up in. Mr. Raines then grabbed it by it’s long, furry throat and swung it down back flat the floor, jumping to pin it down.
“Get out!” Mr. Raines cried out to me. “Leave here!”
Not needing to be told twice, I held onto Kate tightly and bolted past the two burning bodies, jumping over the fire as it began growing fast throughout the cabin. I quickly got to the front door and stopped to look back to see Mr. Raines fighting the creature and preventing it from coming after us, it begging for me to bring Kate back and that it would die without her.
“I’ll clear your name,” I called back, trying not to reel back in horror as I saw Mr. Raines skin begin to melt off, “I’ll let people know you didn’t kill Bonnie!”
“I’ll let people know you didn’t… Kill… Liam!” Mr. Raines’ voice called back, him thrashing around with Mrs. Larson as he said my brother’s name in my voice.
I turned back and kicked the front door open, rushing Kate out of the burning cabin. I ran until I got far enough from the smoke, turning back to see all three cabins now on fire, the area around them all ablaze. The only place untouched was Mrs. Larson’s house, all the evidence remaining. I could hear sirens in the distance coming closer. The sounds of shouts from the surviving officers sounding much closer.
“I’m here… I’m here… I’m here…”
I looked to the front porch of Mrs. Larson’s house where her recorder continued to call out for her sister. I set Kate down at the base of a nearby tree and ran to snatch the recorder, shutting it off. I searched around, looking for any signs of Prudence, but it appeared that the fire and the sounds of sirens and voices had scared her off. I ran back to Kate, her eyes closed and her not responding to me calling to her, but after checking her pulse and breathing, I found that the medication Mrs. Larson had given her had finally taken over and she was now fast asleep, the rifle Mr. Raines gave her still sitting on her rhythmically rising and falling stomach.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I leaned against the same tree I set Kate down on and slid down to the ground next to her. The first two cabins were already practically nothing but ash, the last still blazing as I heard the slowly fading screams of Mrs. Larson and Mr. Raines coming from inside.
When the screaming ended all together, the smoke turning blacker as it rose from the flames, I got to my feet and took out my pack of cigarettes as I approached the fires, staying far enough away not to get burned. I opened the pack up before stopping myself as I reached for one of the ten remaining cigarettes inside. I then flung the entire carton into the fires without taking one.
“Save one for me down there, you old bastard,” I told Mr. Raines before making my way back to Kate’s side.
It wasn’t long before the remaining officers found us, looking in confusion at the fires and to me with a sleeping victim in a homicide case on the ground. I told them we’d need to call an ambulance for Kate and that we needed to keep the flames from getting to Mrs. Larson’s house as it held evidence on the case. One officer retrieved his radio and called for an ambulance while a group ran to the house and another went to try controlling the fire as best they could by yanking out any bushes near by and throwing them away from the area around the house.
Luckily, the fire trucks were called long before the fire spread too far, residence noticing it practically the moment Mr. Raines set the first cabin on fire.
As I sat there, keeping Kate held up against the tree we sat under, I listened to the crackling of the fire, the sirens of fast approaching fire trucks and the ambulance, and the sounds of distance, coyote, almost human, howling.

Pergunta u/prismus- :
Salve Pai João, gostaria de apresentar uma questão [...] acerca dessas novas visões espiritualistas. Essa visão me foi apresentada por um familiar medium de alta sensibilidade. Ela parece ter pitadas de verdade porém ao mesmo tempo enormes contradições com a espiritualidade universal que nos tem disso apresentada até aqui. Pois bem, vou falar sobre essa visão, e o que peço ao senhor é que comente sobre seus pontos, nos mostrando aquilo que contém alguma dose de realidade e mostrando a ilusão daquilo que é falso.
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Resposta Pai João do Carmo:
Salve, meu filho, que belo estudo de caso temos conosco sobre a retórica dos espíritos dominadores, hein? Não quero pular para conclusões, mas quem repassou conosco o estudo sobre essa categoria de espíritos pode ver que existe algo de fundamentalmente errado, pelo menos esquisito, nessa retórica feita sobre sua de sangue.
Filho, para não ficarmos perdidos porque seu texto é muito longo, eu vou fazer pequenas considerações a cada pedaço do texto para que todos possam acompanhar o meu raciocínio — e o seu!
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A ideia é a seguinte: Já somos seres divinos, já habitamos um plano divino, já somos o Eu Superior separado desse espírito que agora somos aqui na Terra. O que essa visão propõe é que “Despertos” são aqueles que não se apegam nem ao que há de bom e nem ao que há de ruim na Terra, de modo que tais indivíduos não retornam a encarnar nem na Terra e nem em planos astrais superiores, sendo lançados, ao desencarne dessa vida diretamente aos planos mais absolutos de existência se assim escolherem.
Comentário:
Aqui já começamos a ver, amigos, o absurdo da retórica dos espíritos dominadores. Como poderemos conciliar o progresso vivido numa vida se, ao desencarne, o espírito pode avançar diretamente para o último estágio da evolução e assim pular todos os degraus de sua caminhada? O progresso, como o conhecemos, é algo extremamente gradual e é lei universal verificável, sumarizada na seguinte frase do Livro dos Espíritos:
“Na Natureza, nada dá saltos!”
E podemos ver hoje em dia que mesmo imensidões como galáxias e como o próprio universo, não saíram simplesmente de um estágio energético para outro, nem acumularam matéria, nem foram construídas suas estruturas num piscar de olhos.
A decisão, concordo, pode ser tomada em menos tempo que a menor unidade de tempo conhecida pela humanidade! Mas o progresso há de ser gradual e, para o leigo, extremamente ineficiente, pois tudo está aprendendo ainda. Como poderia uma pessoa leiga, de uma hora para a outra resolver que sabe como curar a depressão, um ato de extrema caridade, característica dos espíritos mais elevados? É simples: não pode. Pode se enganar e se iludir, mas não pode obter conhecimento instantaneamente, sem trabalho e sem dedicação. Da mesma forma, não pode dizer de uma hora para outra que é boa a pessoa que nunca praticou na vida a bondade, porque não sabe como se faz, e quando ficar sabendo, até sua teoria se tornar prática vai longe.

• Fazer o Bem Sem Olhar a Quem

Quanto a sermos seres divinos, isto somos. Creio, porém, já termos discutido este tópico antes e quero poupar todo mundo de ler um texto desnecessariamente grande. Fica, portanto, a referência aos estudos anteriores, que refletem bem o suficiente minha opinião.

• Sobre os Espíritos Superiores
• A Criatura é Reflexo do seu Criador
• Eu Superior

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O que tal crença diz é que só paga karma quem acredita em karma. Que só retorna a encarnar aqueles que sentem-se culpados pelo que fizeram na experiência humana e, carregando essa culpa, querem retornar à experiência terrena para se corrigirem. Assim, aqueles que, ainda que tenham vivido uma vida de extremo hedonismo e de pouca conexão espiritual e elevação moral, podem, ao desencarnar, simplesmente escolherem “seguir a Luz Branca” (metáfora para adentrar o portal do mais alto nível de existência, superior a vários níveis, “pulando degraus” e indo diretamente ao Absoluto) e pra ela ir, sem nenhuma necessidade de evolução gradual ou mesmo de reencarnar.
Comentário:
Ah, achamos aqui outro pequeno deslize que deve ser considerado, e que julgo ser de conhecimento comum a todos os espíritas que andam seguindo os últimos desenvolvimentos de contato com os demais movimentos espiritualistas, que é sobre o karma. Karma, no fundo de seu significado, é ação. Se colocarmos em total perspectiva, é ação e reação. Não é, portanto, uma questão de opinião que, se você jogar uma bola com força na parede, ela vai voltar com força para você. Também não me parece ser questão de opinião que, quando ofendemos alguém, nos sentiremos mal por isso, conosco mesmo, e ainda que não tenhamos lucidez para atrelar o evento à sua causa, nossas doenças emocionais invariavelmente começarão a tomar vulto.
“Pagar karma”, amigos, significa tomar responsabilidade sobre suas ações. Se ofendeu, não apenas se desculpar, mas também deixar de futuramente ofender a outros. Se jogou a bola na parede e se machucou, curar a ferida, mas não repetir o erro. Isto é uma coisa que vem com a maturidade, com o progresso que, como vimos, não dá saltos.
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Em resumo, o que esse ponto de vista diz, é que os indivíduos que retornam ou fazem uma trajetória evolutiva, só fazem isso porque sentem a necessidade disso e não porque isso é uma Lei Natural da Consciência e do Todo. Afirma-se então — nas própria palavras do meu familiar que crê nessa ideia — que uma pessoa pode, sim, escolher usar drogas pesadas à vontade, fazer coisas vis, estar imersa em promiscuidade, não desenvolver uma moral elevada e ainda assim, ao desencarnar, escolher seguir para a Luz Branca, ao mais alto nível de manifestação do ser e mais alto nível dimensional divino. Entende-se nessa visão que o espírito só retornará para se lapidar se ele SENTIR em seu coração a necessidade de se lapidar (pela culpa ou pelo querer se melhorar). Já se ele, mesmo vivendo uma vida de ilusões, observar tudo que viveu como simples experiências com as quais ele nada mais tem a ver e nem sente necessidade de experienciar de novo a fim de se melhorar e expandir dentro desse nível de experiência, ele pode simplesmente retornar à realidade absoluta.
Comentário:
Ah, nisso esta sua de sangue tem razão! Não há, de fato, lei alguma que obrigue qualquer espírito a encarnar, e se assim o fazem é de livre escolha, de acordo com o que julgam proveitoso. Tanto é que fazem roteiros pessoais da incursão na matéria e, na maioria dos casos, é preciso mesmo esperar uma oportunidade para nascer em nosso planeta, de modo que é preciso não apenas vontade e preparo, é preciso paciência e perseverança antes mesmo de nascer! O que ocorre, como podemos ver, é que a expressiva maioria dos espíritos julga a encarnação como uma ferramenta tão facilitadora de seus progressos pessoais que todos acabam encarnando em períodos regulares.
Tendo à mão uma chave-de-fenda, quem vai pegar o martelo para bater um parafuso na parede? E alguém que veja outra pessoa fazendo este processo da maneira mais difícil, um irmão por exemplo, não recomendaria ao outro o uso da ferramenta adequada? É assim que, ainda que nem todo mundo ache mais fácil evoluir pela encarnação, por ser a ferramenta desenvolvida com esta expressa ideia, todos acabam se rendendo à lógica da situação!
No mais, volto a dizer. A decisão pode ser instantânea — ainda que os que assim o façam sejam extremamente raros de se encontrar — mas a execução deste novo pensamento exige esforço, exige tempo, exige reiteradamente fazer a mesma decisão diante de todas as situações da vida até que seja a resposta automática do ser. A “Luz Branca no fim do túnel” é uma mera metáfora para a liberdade que se ganha no desencarne e o clarão de consciência que se consegue quando se pode olhar a própria vida de fora. Mas não há qualquer quantidade de luz que possa transformar uma pessoa no que ela não é de uma hora para a outra. Acabaria por aniquilá-la.
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Tentando explicar por meio de uma metáfora: Essa ideia propõe que esse mundo é como um jogo de videogame e nós somos personagens, o Desperto é aquele que independente do que tenha feito dentro do jogo de bom ou de ruim, consegue desligar o videogame e ir viver sua vida real sem nenhum peso na consciência pelas atitudes que tomou dentro do jogo, que é apenas um experiência ilusória, uma matrix por assim dizer, e assim não volta a ligar o videogame para corrigir os erros de seu personagem, pois sabe que tudo aquilo foi apenas uma experiência que ele poderia experienciar da forma como quisesse e ainda assim ser livre conquanto que não sentisse vontade de ficar expandindo seu personagem dentro do jogo ou corrigindo seus erros.
Assim, essa visão propõe uma completa desassociação entre elevação moral e Iluminação e expansão da consciência, de modo que despertar, aqui, é tornar-se consciente da realidade última e querer ir para ela sem nada querer mais com esse mundo que vivemos, como se tudo fosse uma questão de escolha e a vivência nossa enquanto indivíduos em nada nos ligasse por meio de leis cósmicas, vibração e graus de consciência a determinadas realidades, faixas dimensionais e experiências karmicas boas ou ruins.
Comentário:
Ah, aqui vemos mais um dos famosos argumentos dos espíritos dominadores: é tudo um jogo, não importa! Já dei minha opinião da importância e da realidade da encarnação e fica aqui os nossos estudos sobre o tema para quem quiser se aprofundar:

• Espíritos evoluem sem encarnar?
• A Evolução na Encarnação
• O que é o Melhor de uma Encarnação?
• As Vantagens de Reencarnar

Em suma, não creio que seja uma grande brincadeira, por mais que seja um ambiente onde seja mais seguro cometer erros.
Esta é uma tática chamada “desensibilização” e é usada para deixar a pessoa menos sensível para as atrocidades vistas e cometidas no dia-a-dia. É uma ferramenta, como podem ver, extremamente boa em criar caos, desrespeito e destruição, ou seja, todo o contrário do progresso, que é ordem, respeito e construção.
E assim o é para que, juntos, os seres se apoiem uns aos outros em sua jornada para criar obras relevantes para cada indivíduo e para o todo. Eis o progresso!
E a ela, negam isso os espíritos dominadores. Não pode ver que o discurso deles tira a beleza e o gosto pela vida? Não pode ver que é estando juntos, construindo juntos, vivendo juntos, com respeito, harmonia, conexão, que a vida tem graça? Quem é que não quer se sentir como pertencente de um grupo coeso, receptivo, carinhoso e produtivo? Não é justamente pela falta disso que a maioria dos trabalhadores se sente infeliz em seus empregos?
Continuemos...
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Assim, o karma só existe para quem nele acredita, para quem sente necessidade de se lapidar, a evolução só existe para quem a vê como uma necessidade. Mas o Desperto simplesmente reconhece-se como sendo um Ser Divino que provém de um plano divino muito superior a vários outros que estão acima de nós encarnados, e, após ter vivido sua experiência humana, olha para ela apenas como isso mesmo: Experiência humana. E sem necessidade de querer resolver nada com ela, pode escolher seguir para a Luz Branca após o desencarne, observando aquilo que viveu mas sem nenhuma vontade de melhorar nada nisso, sabendo-se estar acima dessa experiência. Algo como se nós aqui na Terra fôssemos tipo “robôzinhos” enviados pelo eu verdadeiro para vivermos o que quisermos, e não o próprio eu verdadeiro em si. E reconhecer isso seria ter a liberdade de se libertar dessa vivência aqui.
Comentário:
Seria fácil, amigos, se fosse assim.
Se fôssemos criaturas elevadas, seria talvez assim, poderíamos nos dissociar de nossa personalidade humana e estar num estado de iluminação e clareza de visão acima de todos.
Como podemos ver, porém, os espíritos superiores teimam em voltar a encarnar para nos ensinar. Teimam em dizer que não são mais do que ninguém. Teimam em dizer que nascemos para o progresso e melhoramento pessoal. Teimam em dizer que há muito caminho pela frente. Isto disse Buddha, isto disse Jesus, isso disse Krishna, isso disse Vishnu, isso disse Maomé, isso disse Francisco de Assis, e tantos outros quantos foram luminares e encarnaram na Terra.
Podemos ter segurança de dizer que não somos como eles porque queremos ficar com o melhor só para nós e avançar na frente de todo mundo, deixando para trás todos aqueles que nos foram caros para seguirmos à “Luz Branca”, ou um estado de elevação de último grau.
Aquele que está no estágio de elevação de último grau, no entanto, sendo Deus, diariamente nos serve e cuida de nossas preocupações, não se dissocia, mas está mais próximo do que qualquer outro e com ele podemos contar até mesmo no que falharem os mestres espirituais.
Não podemos portanto, como afirma esta retórica, dizer que o espírito elevado olha para experiência humana com desdém, com desinteresse, como a uma coisa que não lhe diga mais respeito, porque ainda que tenha superado esta fase, sabe que suas ações feitas no passado ainda podem ativamente ter consequências para os que ali ficaram, e as ações presentes tanto mais! É assim que os mestres espirituais, sentindo-se responsáveis por nossa experiência terrena, não simplesmente se vão do planeta em que encarnaram para ensinar, mas voltam repetidas vezes, para ter certeza de que suas ações e reações estão sendo o mais benéficas possível, dentro do entendimento deles.
É assim que, mesmo o espírito elevado, pela simples evidência de que oramos a eles e nos atendem quando é adequado, está ativamente preocupado com seu karma e com seu dharma.

• Sobre o Encarne de Espíritos Superiores

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Assim, os magos negros que controlam o mundo são aqueles que, tendo descoberto a ilusão desse mundo, escolheram nele permanecer e se divertir nele, nessa matrix, com o conhecimento adquirido que os permite dominar e desfrutar, ao invés de passarem para “o lado de lá”, para o plano da Realidade Absoluta. Desse ponto de vista, portanto, mesmo seres que estão imersos na impiedade e são tão egoicos como tais magos negros controladores, podem, se assim quiserem, passar para esses planos divinos quando bem entenderem pois já são despertos mas escolhem não fazer essa passagem. Ou seja, não há nenhuma associação entre elevação espiritual, moral, ética, amorosidade, conexão, e a própria Iluminação, transcendência e manifestação em planos bastante superiores de existência. Tais planos seriam alcançados pelo simples reconhecimento da natureza da realidade, da natureza real do ser, e da não necessidade de retornar a esse mundo ou outros para se melhorar, reparar e etc, vendo tudo como simples experiência.
Comentário:
Ah!! Chegamos a eles. Sempre, amigos, estejam de olho nestas palavrinhas: “magos negros”.
Porque são eles que querem, em maioria, dominar os encarnados por retóricas absurdas, eles sempre vão achar para si e para seus aliados as desculpas mais bem elaboradas que puderem! Sempre vão aparecer no meio de uma conversa que se estende mais afundo nas considerações, porque não querem que lhes suspeitem de forma alguma — caso contrário, o castelo de cartas cai!
Não creio que me seja necessário dizer muito mais aqui, mas estejam certos de que esta conversa sobre conhecer a natureza e serem despertos é muito diferente de conhecer a ciência divina estudada no espiritismo, porque enquanto nós estudamos a moral, as leis divinas e as suas consequências, magos negros estão interessados apenas em conhecer as leis naturais, que são mero detalhe das leis divinas. Limitam-se a si mesmo, e quanto mais limitarão a seus subordinados, e mais ainda aos seus dominados!
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Se por um lado eu concordo que de fato um ser que se veja conectado aos planos divinos superiores, e não sinta em sua consciência a necessidade karmica, pode sim ir para eles, por outro lado entendo que o karma não se trata de mera escolha consciente de repará-los e vivê-los, mas de fluxo com os quais nos envolvemos motivados também pelos nossos desejos, inconsciência, limitação consciencial e afins que nos fazem sim buscar certos tipos de vivências e também nelas desenvolvermos mais nosso potencial de consciência. Ou seja, todo o processo evolutivo e karmico faz justamente com que o ser possa se aproximar mais e mais da realidade dessa Luz Branca da Realidade Absoluta, exatamente a gradual expansão da consciência. Por isso, é possível ir para ela de fato, mas mais do que mero querer, é preciso viver o alinhamento com essa realidade aqui e agora.
De fato o indivíduo que a busca a alcançará, mas todo o processo evolutivo se dá exatamente numa direção que faça com que o indivíduo saiba a buscar e a ela se identificar mais e mais. Correto? [...]
Comentário:
Gostaria, para finalizar, de fazer apenas mais um comentário geral em relação à ideia atirada pelos dominadores, que é sobre a tal “Realidade Absoluta”. A realidade absoluta que clamam existir seria o quê exatamente? Seria talvez um plano muito superior da espiritualidade? O plano mais elevado?
Se pensarmos que a elevação máxima é a consciência de Deus, que permeia a tudo e a todos em todos os planos da existência, poderemos dizer sem medo de erro que a tal realidade absoluta é a realidade como um todo e que, não havendo algo senão a própria realidade, incluindo este pedaço a que chamamos de “plano encarnatório”, mesmo encarnados temos acesso à realidade absoluta. Veem como o pensamento deles é contraditório? Permitam-me explicar um pouco sobre o assunto:
Os planos da existência são, para os espíritos, uma maneira de organização de seus pensamentos, de sua visão da parcela da realidade. Por isso, quanto mais alta a elevação de determinado espírito, não apenas ele pode ir a planos “mais altos”, mas também a todos os seus predecessores.
Conforme a consciência expande, este espírito consegue focalizar seu pensamento e suas considerações a mais de um plano da existência, pelo fenômeno conhecido como ubiquidade, que é justamente o que me permite estar em dois lugares ao mesmo tempo. Desse modo, conforme a capacidade do dom de ubiquidade aumenta, e conforme o espírito consegue elevar mais o seu pensamento e abarcar mais da realidade, mais ele fica convencido de que não necessita mais dos planos da espiritualidade como ferramenta de apoio e organização para si mesmo.
Compreende, claro, que os demais o necessitam e lhes ajudam naquilo que for melhor e mais conveniente para que façam sentido de seu pedaço da realidade, mas depois de determinado estágio evolutivo, não há mais planos da espiritualidade, porque se tornam desnecessários, uma vez que já conhecem tão intimamente a realidade como ela é, que não é preciso fracioná-la para entendê-la.
Uma analogia seria na pintura: quando iniciante, os pintores e desenhistas focam muito nas partes e pouco no todo, de modo que o desenho sai sempre fora de proporção e desconjuntado. Quando se tornam experts, muitas vezes os detalhes das pinturas não são impressionantes em seus quadros, mas sua noção de composição e do todo da obra tem tamanha força que, mesmo na simplicidade, fazem obras-primas, impecáveis.
Amigos, neste texto pudemos ver o quanto distorcem os espíritos dominadores o discurso de todo um estudo espiritual. Como sempre, recomendo a vocês o estudo regular de fontes confiáveis e peço que mantenham a sua simplicidade na visão, que é a principal ferramenta de clareza, para que, quando virem uma pessoa em franca dominação por um espírito maligno, possam jogar sobre esta pessoa um pouco da claridade que já atinge as mentes de vocês.
Recomendo, por último, a leitura de nossas discussões iniciais sobre o assunto:

• Anjos, Deuses e Demônios no Meio Esotérico
• Espíritos Dominadores no Meio Espiritualista
• O que se Sente ao Desafiar um Espírito Dominador
• Dominação Espiritual como Expiação ou Prova

Jesus a todos abençoem, e cuidado com discursos radicais que querem dizer que nada tem importância. Tudo, até o menor do fio de cabelo de vocês, têm igual importância aos olhos do Criador. Não duvidem disso.
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Nota do médium: gostaria de lembrar a todos, amigos, que Pai João aceita sempre suas perguntas para respondê-las em tempo hábil! Dúvidas grandes ou pequenas, com resposta ou sem, não importa, sintam-se à vontade para mandá-las, basta me marcar em um post/comentário ou me enviar por mensagem privada!

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So I am just over a year from when I was cut. I have got to the point where I can deal with it but once was active now very minimal or I’ll pay for it the next day
Pain is just dull aches, but the real problem is when I get aroused or have sex. Sharp pain that slowly disappears then I feal achy for day or two. I keep thinking it will get better. I have a reversal scheduled for one month away.. day to day I can make it, would like to enjoy other activities. Worried a reversal could set me back worse or a waste of money. Thoughts ?

My endocrinologist and pcp both approved me for Wegovy for weight loss. A little backstory: I’ve been “chubby”my entire life. I’m 5’5, I weigh 230lbs. I finally lost weight in high school (healthy) and got down from 187-143 in about 2 years. I used to be a competitive powerlifter and lost both parents very close apart so I fell out of it. I still train at the gym but no longer competing. My workouts now are solely based on how much energy and drive I have that day. My last competition weight was 198. Which was about 5 years ago. I went up a pant size but I’m kind of in between and my size hasn’t gone up too much. I don’t eat much but I find myself binging some when I finally get time to eat because I’m so busy. I’m an independent hair stylist and I part own a restaurant. My sister went on this same medication since October 2023. She’s lost weight on it, but she didn’t make the lifestyle changes needed. She lost a ton of hair, not bald but much thinner than she had. I’m worried about starting this because of the side effects such as hair loss. Not so much the stomach aches and digestive upset. I haven’t gotten a script yet but my pcp told me to message her when I was ready and she would send it in. My goal weight I would love to be 170-175. Keep in mind, I have a fair amount of muscle on me so that weight for me is healthy. I guess I’m just looking for information if I should keep working on my healthy habits or if I should add wegovy into my regime. My dr didn’t seem too concerned about the hair loss and all that she was kind of like yeah it’s possible but I’ve never seen it and then kind of dismissed it.

feeling the tension in my forehead and jaw, my bite, careful not to frown or stretch my skin, overthinking my posture, feeling the dinner in my stomach, imagining some lover beside me from any which angle is f****** unacceptable. everything aches. sure i have insomnia, have most my life and long before developing BDD, but god it keeps me up at night. its like im not alone. im imaging imagining SOMEONES watching me. its like every night is practice for when im no longer alone.

I'm 26, about to turn 27, and have been on estrogen (injections) for just over three years. For about the last 3-4 weeks I've been having a deep throbbing ache in both of my hips and my lower back. My pelvis had tilted about a year ago so it's not that and I'm kind of at a loss at this point. Any of yall know what this may be?

Hi everyone, I recently hurt my left knee while doing a standing quadricep stretch last week (weight on left leg), I lost balance and tried to correct myself, I then heard a loud cracking sound from my inner left knee.
I am still able to put some weight on my leg, extend and compress my left leg with some minor to acute pain. I also get some minor muscle spasms around the quads on-top of my knee
I went to the physio ASAP, they did some stretching and cycling work, had some acute and dull pain afterwards. they recommended and MRI as they thought it may be serious.
I got my MRI report back recently, here are the results:
Clicking sensation inside left knee following stretching. Acute pains and dull ache when touched. Localises the pain anterior and posterior to the left knee joint both medial and lateral aspects in accompanying patient's data sheet.
Technique: Axial, sagittal and coronal proton density with and without fat saturation and additional coronal Tl of the left knee.
Findings: Extensive abnormal intrameniscal signal change in the body and posterior horn of the medial meniscus, but it does not appear to breach the superior or inferior borders of the meniscus to indicate frank tear and it does not extend to involve the medial third of the meniscus.
Posterior root and meniscocapsular attachment posterior horn medial meniscus remain intact and normal. Medial compartment cartilage quite well maintained. Anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments intact.
Lateral meniscus and lateral compartment cartilage well maintained. Popliteus tendon and posterolateral corner structures appear intact. Tibial and fibular collateral ligaments intact and normal.Patellofemoral joint cartilage well maintained. Reasonably formed trochlea notch of the distal femur. Medial and lateral patella retinaculum appear normal. Slightly more than physiological amount of joint fluid. No Baker's cyst is seen. Insall-Salvati ratio 1 .1 and normal. Patellar tendon signal normal. No retropatellar or Hoffa's fat pad oedema is seen. Quadriceps tendon appears within normal limits.
Conclusion: No evidence of patellar tendinopathy. Abnormal signal in the body and posterior horn medial meniscus, more extensive than simple degenerative intrameniscal signal change, but does not breach the superior or inferior border of the meniscus to indicate frank tear. Might nevertheless be producing symptoms. No other potential cause for the knee symptoms identified.
By reading this report, I'm not certain if it's a strain, minor injury to the medial meniscus or something else and seeking further clarification.
I am a 27 year old male, 5'10 roughly 79kgs, a little out of shape. Weak core, tight glutes and hamstrings. Also weak lumbar back due to recent back injury.
Also seeking guidance, supplements and exercises to increase my chances of a optimal and quick recovery.
This has also taken a toll on my mental health as well as my recent back injury.
Appreciate any advice.

Watched the movie a month ago and I had to leave when the 'normal' credits showed up (around the time they had that really cool AKIRA homage) cuz of a stomach ache to the bathroom. Apparently there is a post credit scene but I never got to saw it. :'( anyone got an archive of it?

My boyfriend and I were living together and he was using his checking account to make all my credit card payments online. I would go and deposit money into his account and he would make all the payments. Well 7 months later he and I broke up and he went to his bank and said he never authorized all the payments he made on my account. So now they have reversed all my payments as returned checks 7 months later. All these payments had already cleared his bank and 7 or 8 months later he diputed them. Can the bank go back that far