Hello! A little late for this train but excited to share with all of you. I’m Augo, one of the Gossmere community leaders, and I started here during Phase 3 of TMP. I remember laying down on my bed for a breather after my kids’ bedtime, scrolling through Facebook and an ad caught my attention. “What is my guild?” I wondered. I clicked, and the next thing you know I’m wearing a magical blindfold on a video call with a bunch of strangers. (@Sellalellen was the first other Mountie I “met!”). The rest, as they say, is history.
About me:
Pronouns: he/him/his
I’m an Eraverane-bearing Gossmere
I’m the proud father of three energetic little boys (dubbed “The Auglets” by @Skylad, I believe)
I love cooking. I don’t use recipes, but rely on techniques I’ve learned over the years and my palate. My wife likes to joke that my answer to her complaining that “we have no food in the house” is to produce a four course meal out of nowhere.
Because I like eating so much, I’ve also learned to love fitness! I usually lift three times a week, and do some random cardio sometimes in between.
I played MtG probably before many of you were born (around Fallen Empires and Third/Fourth editions) and DnD via RP-only NWN and NWN2 servers before being brought back to these by a good friend in recent years. Now, I play in and DM in two weekly campaigns! The one I DM is set in Eberron, which I am actually obsessed with.
I’ll probably add more stuff as I think about it. Until then, excited about these Journals!
Today is my first day back in the office after a short vacation. I had a really great time, and it was very, very relaxing. I wonder, though, if anybody else feels this way: you work so hard in the days leading up to a vacation, and so much work piles up that needs to be addressed while you’re away, that it doesn’t really feel like a break. You still have to do the work, you just shuffle around when it actually gets done. I think this is one of the big failures of the American labor culture, and for me at least, is a big contributor towards burnout. I refused to do any real work while I was away and was pretty close to “Inbox Zero” before I left, so I felt good while I was there, but dang was there a lot to catch up on after just three business days off!
Cheers to that! I know a few people who feel gutsy enough (and are lucky enough to have a supportive office) to add “I’m not going to reply to your emails when I get back; if you dind’t get it taken care of during the last week, email again” (although much nicer). I envy thse people; when I return from a vacation, I spend more time asking around if a certain questions has been answered than I do actually replying to the initial emails!
I had a really cool experience this morning that I’d like to share. Education is a big part of my professional life, and I’ve worked with a huge number of students and trainees over my close-to-ten-years in my current position.
This morning as I was walking in from the parking garage, I ran into one of my former students. He’s now a colleague and peer in my workplace. There are few things that I find as professionally gratifying as seeing someone with whom I had a hand in their education succeeding first hand.
I am proud to report that I can now bench press, squat, and deadlift more than my bodyweight! It took about 4 months to get to this milestone, and I’m really happy with my progress.
It arrived today, and it. is. gorgeous. I’ve been waiting to hold a physical copy of this in my hands (but not too long CJ, don’t stress), and I am NOT disappointed. Worth every minute.
After the debacle of The Monarch Papers cover reveal I can’t help but double-check the spelling of my last name every single time I see one of my covers in a photo.
I got mine on Friday, but i finally took a picture with it and it felt so nice to finally have it in my hands after so much waiting. Congrats again, @CJB!
I used my Briar Society coin today to cast I Ching hexagrams. I learned about I Ching in an Eastern Philosophy course as an undergrad years ago, and a handful of times over the course of the past cough20cough years, I’ve cast I Ching hexagrams to help me get a clearer picture of where I am in my life when things are confusing.
Things are kind of confusing right now in my professional life. I made a recent job change, but as with everything, the grass only seemed greener on the other side of the fence, and now that I’m almost 6 months in, I’m questioning whether the change was the right thing to do. I left my old job because I felt stymied by the amount of bureaucracy working for a large corporation. I left for a smaller, independent, privately owned company and am finding the same, except now it feels more petty and personal because there’s a “face with the name” putting up the barriers I struggled with at my last job.
At my last job a couple of years ago, I cast an I Ching, which helped me realize that I needed a clean slate. I don’t remember the exact hexagrams, but it was helpful.
Asking the question today “is this the right place for me to work?” I flipped the coins and came up with the hexagrams “46. Pushing Upward” and “50. Cauldron.” I feel like the answers the I Ching gives come from within and not from without, so I wasn’t surprised when the imagery of “Pushing Upward” (earth/soil over wood - representing the effort of seedlings pushing up through the earth to sprout and see the sun), and the Cauldron (meaning bounty, plenty, and success) came up. I already knew in my heart that the answer was to see this through, work hard, put in the effort, and it will probably work out better than I’d hoped for in the end. Today’s hexagrams helped me to see that more clearly.
Has anybody else used the I Ching and found it helpful?
There was a freshman seminar at my college my first year that was totally focused on the I Ching! They cast lots instead of using coins, and I really enjoyed talking to folks from that class about their experience and they were learning. I think I completed hexagrams once or twice during my first semester and I found what you found: the most impactful part of the experience was the chance to reflect on the situation at hand. Once I completed my hexagrams, that reflection time made it easier for me to interpret the results I received. I found it really helpful, so it’s cool to see you bring it up, Augo!
Dear Gossmere, there is a purpose to your intentions this month that invigorates everything in the proximity of your immediate space. You are bursting with energy to expend in all of your favorite places: in caring for your loved ones, nurturing your garden, tending to yourself and the space you inhabit, and watching in wonder as the world turns and thrives, and you along with it.
This is your natural state, for you are always happiest when your care and attention has a focal point for you to channel the energy you exude. This month, in particular, it will benefit you to choose a particular project to devote extra time to, something whose progress and development you can directly monitor as an impact of your care and attention.
This month is a relatively slow one for you, sweet Gossmere, but don’t be fooled—it is the calm before the to-be-expected chaos of the coming months. Relish the time you have, the tranquillity of watching something grow, of watching yourself become stronger, of following a project from beginning to end. One day soon, you will miss the peace and simplicity of this month. Don’t let it slip away too quickly.
my memory is worse than I thought
