MasteryPlus | RJ Taylor | Activity http://www.masteryplus.com/members/rjtaylor/activity/ Activity feed for RJ Taylor. Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:13:56 -0700 https://buddypress.org/?v= en 30 hourly 2 c6ac399890d5afa7be2b8d6f3968c0f8 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/gratitudes/#post-569 Mon, 06 Feb 2017 20:43:43 -0800 Thanks for keeping this up! I think a news-free day is a great idea

]]> af2e1022b93d1aca7bff762dba8b3363 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/what-is-the-arena/#post-511 Mon, 09 Jan 2017 23:09:22 -0800 I love this! I’ll have to think about it. Off the cuff: I’m really good at listening to people. I’m also good at seeing the humor in any situation.

]]> f85a235d208a81aa50ba5b4cadf0bcbd RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/depression-thread/#post-463 Sat, 10 Dec 2016 21:18:58 -0800 OK the post I had intended to write was a list of things that do/don’t help in both the short and long term. Obviously mine will be a personal list, but I’d be very interested to see other people’s lists.

I’ll start with the unhelpful.

What Seems Like It Will Help, But Doesn’t
-thinking it out–usually just goes in spirals
-eating…[Read more]

]]> 54380aa5dda3f0e8d6eb59e6b1d7e26a RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/depression-thread/#post-462 Sat, 10 Dec 2016 14:34:11 -0800 Not sure if anyone will still see this thread, but I thought I’d pick it up again. Realized that I never replied to Ellen’s great post, which I had meant to, and also I was hoping we could get some more positive coping methods rolling as this past month had been a slow and steady slide into a sh*tshow of sadness, despair, sloth, and general…[Read more]

]]> d828cbd1df9f2634bf113925c8db648a RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/gratitudes/#post-424 Tue, 06 Dec 2016 17:10:46 -0800 Following off of Tananarive’s post in another thread about focusing on what you *have* done instead of what you failed to do, I’m going to post a few gratitudes to my past self:

I’m grateful for the 1000+ words of a new short story I’ve worked on this week
I’m grateful for the revision schedule I’ve created for myself
I’m grateful for the…[Read more]

]]> ba795005bf213699e8c5761d8aee05e9 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/lets-pledge-to-write-enough-to-enter-writers-of-the-future-each-quarter/#post-419 Tue, 06 Dec 2016 17:00:24 -0800 Thanks for bringing this up, Austin. I’ve definitely heard of WotF before but assumed it was SF only. But it looks like they also take fantasy…so…GULP, I guess I’m in too!

]]> 6509a55ec7c1a9412037036685dc9616 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/homework-and-thoughts/#post-416 Tue, 06 Dec 2016 16:32:45 -0800 I certainly had the “Hey–that’s ME!” reaction to quite a few items on your list!

I identified especially the odd anxiety reaction and the “NOTHING YOU DO COUNTS” reaction. For me it’s “either you’re making your living as a writer, or you’re a hack! so just give up”. Except it doesn’t come in as a thought in words, it’s just this heavy feeling…[Read more]

]]> d005899fc35b6bc63024d1b1dfc073a0 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/the-machine-faith-wages-and-self-sabotage-a-snowflakey-rant/#post-378 Sat, 03 Dec 2016 19:06:38 -0800 Thanks, Steve! (and everyone!) It’s encouraging just to put things in perspective. I’m going to think more on these things and post more after our class

]]> 2f890e9640062ee26fc2161f86bd954d RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/the-machine-faith-wages-and-self-sabotage-a-snowflakey-rant/#post-363 Fri, 02 Dec 2016 14:55:29 -0800 Not great, thanks for asking. I’m hoping to add something to my morning coffee as Ellen suggested, but haven’t settled on what movement or phrase to use. Everything feels kind of false. Which I guess is the point–it becomes true through repetition.

I’m just in a year-long funk. In part I think b/c I had expectations and hope. I had a number of…[Read more]

]]> 609538a42eeb004c19f4b117994339b9 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/war-artist/#post-349 Tue, 29 Nov 2016 15:33:32 -0800 The emotion of powerlessness, witnessing destruction but only being able to document it. (Converted to a feeling of power via art & connection with humanity)

]]> 10c194eed6a2913584147aad97b71876 RJ Taylor started the topic in the forum http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/war-artist/ Tue, 29 Nov 2016 13:58:34 -0800 When an artist documenting the destruction of war is trapped in a collapsed cellar, she is compelled to escape. But she can’t because the only other person who comes through the war-ravaged town is from the opposite side, and threatens to leave her to die.

]]> 33480b4c1adffc7c69f9cc4c9f3ebe97 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/gratitudes/#post-331 Fri, 25 Nov 2016 19:13:16 -0800 Thank you for starting the thread!
I’m planning to keep adding to this beyond Thanksgiving week, so I hope others will as well. Just going to add one big one for now:
I’m extremely grateful for this class, for the work that Tananarive and Steve have done over their lives to get to the place where they can offer us such insight, and for their work…[Read more]

]]> 5272310ddcf7f14c0fdb8518c2c44670 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/the-machine-faith-wages-and-self-sabotage-a-snowflakey-rant/#post-315 Tue, 22 Nov 2016 20:18:32 -0800 Thanks! You all have given me a lot to think about.

Steve–I wonder if you could point us to some more specific examples of the exercises/affirmations people have used with the “morning ritual.” If I lived in LA I would have definitely gone to your event the other week! I get the basic idea, but I would find it helpful to see some examples.

]]> c3a4e2d2ff8afdc3d641a4cd6490d8db RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/the-machine-faith-wages-and-self-sabotage-a-snowflakey-rant/#post-300 Mon, 21 Nov 2016 20:49:45 -0800

“I have hated myself for “failing” when in reality I have done an awesome job.”

This is a good point, thanks. That’s so amazing you lost 100lbs! Really inspiring.

]]> 342a83f53634bcc5864ea8f787b5b059 RJ Taylor started the topic in the forum http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/the-machine-faith-wages-and-self-sabotage-a-snowflakey-rant/ Mon, 21 Nov 2016 18:56:28 -0800 (Sorry, this rambles off topic, but here it is anyway)

I’ve been starting to work “the machine” and I really love having those simple rules to work with. However, I’m noticing a pattern in myself that is really troubling. Every time I start into a program or system that I believe will really help, I keep at it well and then end up reacting with a…[Read more]

]]> 6f0e37d249ed6cec3e25290681a0dac7 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/anger/#post-297 Mon, 21 Nov 2016 18:16:08 -0800 I see your points, and I agree that trying to work through anger, let go of it, move beyond it, etc is a worthy goal. However it’s been my experience that anger is a natural and uncontrollable “reptile brain” reaction to certain circumstances.
What we DO with anger is our choice. We can choose how we express it, whether we hold onto it or let it…[Read more]

]]> 0e04c207a14d1017b5c6baad6b50cc44 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/homework-and-thoughts/#post-179 Sun, 23 Oct 2016 00:23:05 -0700 I didn’t so much have a story in mind as just a situation. I was going to go into more the juxtaposition of memories of military combat with domestic life, how violence from the past can become its own “layer” on top of current reality. There’s so much hope for the future in these characters: wanting to get better jobs, wanting to start a…[Read more]

]]> 77a4d189bb25c37f36b2b5a555b5dc6e RJ Taylor started the topic in the forum http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/depression-thread/ Sun, 23 Oct 2016 00:00:10 -0700 Since we started chatting about depression and mental health a lot in this week, I thought I’d start a thread to continue the discussion.

When we were discussing what “revolutionary writing” means to us and what topics we were interested in, depression and suicide specifically came to my mind as social topics that I find myself addressing again…[Read more]

]]> 794cd63fea2b2d9f15be6568eafaddc8 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/chapter-7-thoughts/#post-176 Sat, 22 Oct 2016 23:48:18 -0700 I like your additions! I was taking notes on the book and I decided to reframe the 31 failures as their opposite (that is, if you were able to successfully avoid these failures, what would it look like) Here’s the list I wrote as Causes of Success, with asterisks by the ones which I feel are important for me…[Read more]

]]> 1d6d8215cb39f5baacca5005b01ef950 RJ Taylor started the topic in the forum http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/homework-and-thoughts/ Sat, 22 Oct 2016 21:55:20 -0700 I had a harder time with this than I would like to admit. I ended up starting and stopping down a few different paths. I felt like because the whole point of the exercise was “writing the other” that my internal critic was on full blast the whole time. But it was important to me to do the exercise, even tho I ended up with more like a page than…[Read more]

]]> 6cfbd8e885d0be2bab2fa0d1398ae2b9 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/week-two-homework/#post-172 Sat, 22 Oct 2016 21:48:20 -0700 Not only got to read a good story, but learned some Canadian history and learned about the Short Story Challenge. Thanks, Ross!

]]> e06fde89655c31bc1af103628dd9b88a RJ Taylor posted a new activity comment http://www.masteryplus.com/activity/p/68/#acomment-76 Sun, 16 Oct 2016 16:02:48 -0700 Thanks! I’ll look into grabbing a copy

In reply to - RJ Taylor changed their profile picture ]]> cb4354c0fdf1d76381b0bf2701389e7b RJ Taylor posted a new activity comment http://www.masteryplus.com/activity/p/68/#acomment-72 Sun, 16 Oct 2016 15:40:34 -0700 I’ve only a glancing knowledge of NLP, but it was intriguing. I’ll definitely look into linguistic patterns. Thanks!

In reply to - RJ Taylor changed their profile picture ]]> 8e9938e5aa8d84c358372dc409b72fec RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/introductions/#post-131 Sun, 16 Oct 2016 01:15:53 -0700 Hi, I’m RJ! Also occasionally known as Rebecca, Rebs, Rebedebe, Count Rebula, etc. I live in the Boston area. I write mostly Secondary-World Fantasy, but some literary fiction and flash fiction as well.

I’ve been writing since I was twelve, but haven’t published. I spent a long time being disappointed that I wasn’t (or secretly hoping I was) a…[Read more]

]]> 1b9c88a3ce353f680579169b76f12873 RJ Taylor changed their profile picture http://www.masteryplus.com/activity/p/68/ Sun, 16 Oct 2016 00:49:52 -0700 4 b1bdb0971c4a15ded4d6d1a0ee924da6 RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/take-notes-ask-questions/#post-129 Sun, 16 Oct 2016 00:47:37 -0700 NLP is Neurolinguistic Programming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming

(stay safe in the storm!)

]]> c07315a9c9c2c31cae4fbc483c2078da RJ Taylor replied to the topic in the forum Members http://revolutionary-writing.masteryplus.com/forums/topic/take-notes-ask-questions/#post-129 Sun, 16 Oct 2016 00:47:37 -0700 NLP is Neurolinguistic Programming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming

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