February 15, 2010
Welcome to Mortal Mist!If you are new to our virtual home, please accept this heartfelt Thank You for choosing to come in. As an online community, we are still young, small and not yet very visible. The fact that you found your way here is really pretty amazing. As you can surely tell, however, our passion for lucid dreaming far exceeds our size and visibility. The Mortal Mist community lives for lucid dreaming.
We are a bit different from most online communities. There are no ads and no requests for donations around here, no moderators in the forums and no need for them. What we try to do is spread responsibility to the owners - an elite group of which you are now a part.
And we are glad you have joined us. We hope you find enough here to keep your interest and attention - or, if that isn't the case, that you might be one of those who chooses to take responsibility for changing things for the better.
Responsibility isn't for everybody, and assuming responsibility certainly isn't a requirement to be a part of the Mortal Mist community. . . but if you ARE going to choose to bear responsibility, you might as well be doing it for something you actually share ownership in!
Whatever your reason or motivation to join us here in The Mist, we appreciate you.
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Mortal Mist Mission StatementAfter a great deal of discussion and exploration, a new mission statement has emerged. We have finally started making a decision about what we want to be when we grow up!
Mortal Mist is dedicated to exploring and promoting Lucid Dreaming by providing an encouraging atmosphere where member-owners share and discuss experiences, informally promoting research and knowledge of lucidity and all aspects of dreaming through individual and collective documentation and experimentation.This mission is our guiding philosophy, and will surely continue to evolve as we do. Now that we have our mission sorted out, we can begin in earnest to redesign the look, feel and functionality of the front pages and forum. The goal is to bring the entire Mortal Mist site in line our mission. Thanks to all who helped hammer out the new mission statement!
The next steps, now that the mission is established, are being discussed here:
http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/topic,2737.0.html--
Research GuildThe mission of the research guild is to propose, hone and explore research topics centered around lucid dreaming. This can encompass anything from induction techniques, to PSI phenomenon, to exploring the subconscious mind by constructing intelligent questions for
DC's, to ...? The possibilities can only be limited by our joint creativity.
The word research can be a little imposing. In our context here, it is not meant to be. No formal research or advanced degrees are required. All that is required is a genuine interest in better understanding the human mind and its abilities, some personal excitement over exploring the unknown and an ability to occasionally think a little outside the box.
The first project I am kicking off is the obvious one. I am trying to find some additional research subjects to trial my method of using
CES for
LD induction. I have a number of takers so far. If interested, please see the call for participation post in the Research Guild Folder, fill in the questionaire and PM back to me (DrTechnical). The purpose of the questionaire is to help me understand your success rate at lucid dreaming, so we can accurately quantify the viability of this method vs. others (
LDS) or even how well these techniques could work together. There are no right or wrong answers. Please follow this link:
http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/topic,2708.0.html--
Featured Artist for Lucid InspirationAquanina has revived her popular Featured Artist thread! Current featured artist is
George Grie:
http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/topic,351.0.htmlIf there are any artists you would like to see featured, drop a PM to Aquanina or let her know in the
Featured Artist discussion thread.--
Board Consolidation and ReorganizationYou may have noticed that the boards have been undergoing some changes. The project is nowhere near complete - while we have a general layout and flow, discussion is ongoing as to further consolidations to cut down on the still overwhelming number of forums. Join the discussion in both of these threads:
http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/topic,2715.0.htmlhttp://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/topic,2741.0.html--
Engaging With Dreams Workshop Completed - but not over!Burned Up's February workshop,
Engaging With Dreams, has run its course. There is still plenty of time to catch up and read the fascinating results of this great presentation.
Burned Up concludes with his own observations and wants to hear your thoughts and comments in this thread:
http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/topic,2755.msg75182.html#msg75182Thank you,
BU!
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Changes to ChatThose who regularly use the chat node here are likely already aware of some changes that have been made to the system. The changes in function were addressed in the previous special newsletter, so there is no need to recount them here. The most significant change, however, is that the management of Mortal Mist's chat node is now entirely in the hands of
LucidBulbs, Luminous, Sean999, Snowy_Egypt and
wolvendeer. If you have any questions, problems or concerns about anything to do with chat, they are the final authority.
Special thanks go to these five for being willing to take on responsibility for this popular piece of the Mortal Mist system, and extra special thanks go to
mu for the modifications that made it possible.
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Featured Challenges and Meeting Place for FebruaryBasic challenge: find a groundhog and look for its shadow, in celebration of the (US and Canadian) holiday Groundhog's Day. Alternatively, you can change into a groundhog yourself and look for your own shadow.
Intermediate challenge: find a
DC and ask them to be your valentine. Negative bonus points if you break their heart after they accept (by immediately running off to do whatever else you want to get done while lucid or etc).
Advanced challenge: ask a
DC out on a date. Bonus points if you ask this after completing the intermediate challenge, and also if you splurge a little and take them to somewhere fancy.
February meeting place:
the SunThe challenges and meeting place boards have been consolidated and can be found here:
http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php/board,38.0.html--
Final Thoughts - Taking OwnershipWhat does "member-ownership" mean to you? The concept of ownership can be mean different things in different circumstances. You might find a nice seashell on a beach, pick it up, take it home and put it on your shelf; that shell has clearly become your possession to do with as you please. You might choose to join a small lucid dreaming community, start a dream journal, make a few posts and then - what? You are told that you are now a "member-owner." But what exactly do you own?
In the most literal sense, you own everything you contribute to Mortal Mist. Copyright for your own posts belongs to you. Nobody else has the right to change it, use it against your wishes or exploit it in any way. You are making what belongs to you available to the community because you choose to. In so choosing, you are breathing life into and strengthening the community - making it more desirable and valuable to all the others who have made the same choice to be part of the community. That magical multiplying of individual contributions is
synergy - and the synergy of all who choose to remain involved here at Mortal Mist is what keeps it going.
Less tangible but more important is owning by taking responsibility. To own something in this regard is to be the one making decisions about it and executing those decisions. Responsibility ranges from simply watching to make sure what you own isn't being harmed or abused to maintaining, repairing, promoting and improving your posession.
In virtually all other online communities, there is an Owner who takes ultimate responsibility and reaps any financial rewards, surrounded by Staff who are empowered to shoulder the responsibility for execution of the Owner's will. So what do you do with Mortal Mist, where we have almost 400 owners and virtually no staff?
What you can do here is take ownership of more than just your personal contributions! You see this happening when people decide to conduct a workshop, reorganize and clean up the boards, write a Table Of Contents for techniques, post inspirational art or writings for others to enjoy, begin an organized Research Guild or accept responsibility for control of the Chat system. You see it when somebody comes up with a creative way to promote the site - making it more visible to those who might fit in with our unique community. You see it in those who choose to be here even when not much is going on, just in case somebody should wander in, and in those who go through the boards day in and day out to encourage others. You see it in investment of time and attention, and in the simple belief that what we are doing here has value and merit.
Mortal Mist is YOUR place to own, beyond some vague rhetorical sense. You own what you contribute, and you can take all the additional responsibility you are willing and able to bear. What happens or doesn't happen here is up to you. The rewards here in The Mist are yours to keep and enjoy; rewards like the satisfaction of working together to promote and explore the new frontier of lucid dreaming while knowing your efforts and contributions will never be sold off to the highest bidder or used as bait for ad traffic. The opportunity to be part of building something unique, high quality and free from external influences beyond a simple and pure passion for exploring and promoting Lucid Dreaming is yours for the taking.
Have you accepted ownership of Mortal Mist?
Until next time, look for me on the sun!
pj
