46 Comments

"I’ve come to understand that writing is a necessity. It’s a limb that must be massaged and scratched lest it atrophy and disfigure." - loved this!

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Apr 18, 2023·edited Apr 18, 2023Author

Thank you! It's literally how it feels if I try and ignore the writing limb. Very uncomfortable.

I checked out your Substack and noticed you write about Jungian philosophy. The two years I mentioned in this supplement, writing in the morning, searching the dark, were very inspired by Jung.

I especially liked this piece: https://open.substack.com/pub/writersomnibus/p/holding-the-tension-of-opposites?r=is0td&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Tension of opposites. Have you ever read Von Franz? She wrote a lot about this concept, perhaps more than Jung himself.

Anyways I should stop now because I can talk about Jung all night. I'll bug you on your Stack once I get time to read more of your work.

Thanks again Priya

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Thanks, Teagan! There was a period of my life Jungian philosophy helped navigate and it has changed how I think about life. I’m familiar with some of von Franz’s writings though I am not an expert. Great connecting with you!

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Thank you for sharing the “rules” behind One Word and about yourself. It seems so intentional and devotional of a process. I really love your thinking and dare I say feeling behind the concept.

I relate to the need to cry and how good it can feel - it’s such a release. It also reveals why your work evokes so many emotions in my opinion.

I enjoy this supplemental and look forward to more One Words!

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Hey Liz. Devotional is a word I hadn't considered, but I think you're right. I find myself following a deep well when I write One Word and it does shock me sometimes how far each word guides me creatively.

Crying is a release! It's strange to say, but that rule is a sort of gut check. If I can reach emotion, then I know the piece has helped me, and no matter what happens when I let it go out into the world, I've already accomplished what I was out to do.

Thanks for commenting, and I'll try to get one of these out mid-month moving forward. It was fun to write. Much less intense than the words themselves, which can get all-consuming sometimes.

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Apr 18, 2023Liked by Taegan MacLean

I am inspired by the idea of One Word and how the word pushes you out of your comfort zone to open up a world of possibilities and not just a few options. 👍🏽

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Hey Rizwan!

Thanks so much for your positive vibes. You're totally right, One Word does push me out of my comfort zone. It's strange, too, because it's not something I set out to do. All I wanted was to publish a piece every month, but the idea grew and here we are!

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Taegan just subscribed, brother! :) Great work here on this newsletter!

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Hey Tom,

Sorry I missed your comment amigo - and thank you!

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I was wondering about the one word and appreciate the explanation, it resonates well with anyone who creates without the business aspect as a primary focus, at least I would hope so. As C.G. Jung said "Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakes." Now, on that subject of Lilith, she awoke... and I take it you do your part to save the world once more! Glad to hear you had fun. Fun playing, fun writing and fun making a video! I shall take some time to dive deeper.

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Hey Alexander,

Thank you! I'm a big Jung fan. Do you read him a lot? I've got a stack of his and his students' books. Outside of Jung, Marie-Louie Von Franz is my go to Jungian. Her work is powerful.

I'm still grappling with my part in the story and how I can help save the world from Lilith! Hopefully you and I can talk more about this as we read each others work.

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I watched a fascinating interview recently "Face to Face – An interview with C. G. Jung" available in full on yt! Highly recommended and as I type this, Archetypes is next to me on my shelf, it needs re-reading... I have forgotten so much!

I must admit, I skipped the last open beta because I need to focus on my novel. Lilith must wait until release. Looking forward to your next word, Taegan.

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Yes! That's such a good documentary. I'll post it here in case anyone stumbling through this comment thread wants to see it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AMu-G51yTY&t=351s

And let me know if you end up playing D4 once released! I'm on the fence but if people from Substack play, that'll tip me over the edge.

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Ah yes, I wasn't sure if I should add the link, much more convenient of course. It is such a great interview.

Re: D4. I have pre-ordered it. I am partial though, since my previous occupation in said company. But yes, I will surely play it.

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Apr 27, 2023·edited Apr 27, 2023Author

I didn't realize your connection to Blizzard until just now!

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Ipfelkofer_Ironkeg

That's very, very cool. Blizzard games were a big part of my teens - Diablo, WoW, Starcraft. I'll make sure to pick D4 up

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😎 I am not advertising it normally, but yeah it's public knowledge. And yeah, D2 was the reason I joined the company back in 2004. Soooooo many hours! Remember "Ahhhhhh! Fresh meat!"

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I also found an amazing frozen gluten-free pizza where I live. Worth celebrating! 🎉

I'm fascinated by all the stuff you can do with just one word. 🤩

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Thank you Claudia! What’s the brand of GF pizza you found?

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Apr 19, 2023·edited Apr 19, 2023Liked by Taegan MacLean

Love this peek behind the curtain.

When this post hit my inbox, I was like...can’t look at it now because I won’t be able to savor it. Lol.

There is something truly special about your writing and storytelling, Taegan.

So, looking forward to more from you...writing, photography and video.

Oh, and I love your decision to part with content strategy “best practices” and go at your own pace. ♥️

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Hey Crystal.

Thanks so much. I was wondering if you'd drop into this one! Through some convos with you and a few other people on Substack, I started to realize there was enough unsaid between words that I could gather up into these supplemental posts.

Creating content can be a real challenge - something I've seen you write about in your Substack. For me, it really comes down to trying to focus on what you enjoy and who cares about the rest, right?

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Agreed! 😌

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Apr 19, 2023Liked by Taegan MacLean

You have given a super smart way to keep the brain growing, which makes you a better health care provider than most :) I'm clueless about video production, but recently made and edited 2 short ones for self training. It's some serious work.

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Hey weedom

Thanks for the kind words. Your Substack is such a trove of herbal delights and ideas. Are you self-taught or a trained botanist?

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Taegan, glad you like weedom world. It’s kind of a mission for to show everyone the free food and meds, and get them running around outside for good health. Plus there’s a dip into the plant chemistry. As an experiment, I’m trying to do it without appeal to credentialism, because people need more confidence in their own ability to acquire knowledge and educate themselves.

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I appreciate this piece Teagan. The part explaining your "rules" around exploring each word is brilliant. One reason I choose to post poems on this platform weekly, is that I work best with a deadline, it's working. And.. thank you for your thoughts around the "fun" of video making. It's emboldened my desire to video performance pieces ... maybe! ha

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Hey Kristen - thank you.

Deadlines are very useful for me, too. I don't plan to have a solid deadline for the supplements, though. "Mid-month-ish" is as far as I'll go!

I figured laying out some of the background to why I'm writing One Word would be helpful, and it turned out the effort also helped me clear my head and finally re-draft an About page, so two birds, one stone!

You should totally do video performance pieces. The Substack video player is fairly robust and easy to use.

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I think it's great how you do this. Don't let yourself be rushed and good things will follow. And if you need a recipe for a gluten-free pizza dough let me know. My wife had a gluten-free bakery.

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Apr 19, 2023·edited Apr 19, 2023Author

Thanks for the support Rocket.

Also, I'd LOVE a gluten free pizza dough recipe. My wife is celiac, hence the gluten free. Is yours?

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My wife is gluten-intolerant. She's one step away from being a celiac.

So here is the recipe :-)

150 g or 5,3 oz of Rice flour

100 g or 3,5 oz potato or tapioca starch (no corn starch)

10 g or 0,35 oz Psyllium husks

5 g or 0,17 og Salt

A pinch of sugar

4 g 0,14 oz Dry yeast

200 ml or 6,76 liquid oz Lukewarm water

15 ml or 0,51 liquid ozOlive Oil

Kneed it 3 minute slow and 6 minutes fast. This is crucial :-)

Let it rest for 30 minutes

Build the pizza and bake it at 200°C or 393 °F at top and bottom heat for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy :-)

And if you are a bread fan.

I can share our award winning chia bread recipe as well.

Best,

Michael

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Damn Michael this is amazing - sending it to my wife right now.

I've never had chia bread before, but I'm down if you got the recipe handy!

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Here is the recipe for the chia bread:

Millet flour 171 g 6,0318 oz

Linseed flour 24 g 0,8466 oz

Oatmeal 24 g 0,8466 oz

Chia seeds 24 g 0,8466 oz

Linseed kernel 12 g 0,4233 oz

Psyllium husk 14 g 0,4938 oz

Tapioca starch 24 g 0,8466 oz

Baking powder 3 g 0,1058 oz

Dried yeast 5 g 0,1764 oz

Salt 5 g 0,1646 oz

LIQUID INGREDIENTS

Water 350 ml 12,3183 Fluid oz

Apple cider vinegar 3 ml 0,1056 Fluid oz

Olive oil 20 ml 0,7039 Fluid oz

Step 1

How to work the dough

If you have a kitchen machine: Knead the dough 3 minutes slow and 6 minutes fast. If not, try to replicate it by hand. See it as a workout :-)

The kneading is very important, otherwise it looks nice from the outside after it’s baked, but poor from the inside.

Chances are very high, that you get a hole in the middle if you don’t follow „the kneading process“. That was at least our take-away after many trials.

Step 2

We baked and fermented it in this baking mould/ pan, because the heat can access the dough very evenly from all sides.

https://www.backdorf.de/Zubehoer/Backen/Backformen/Holzbackform.html

Ferment/ Brew 15 Min 36 C 97 F

Step 3

Cut three cuts into the dough half an inch deep.

Before you put the dough into the oven, spray the top of the dough with water.

Otherwise it „mushrooms“ uncontrollable.

Step 4

bake heat form the top and the bottom

200/200 °C 70 Min or 570 °F

Raw dough weight 620 g 21,9 Ounce

Finished 540 g 19,05 Ounce

Looking forward to see the results and I hope you like it too. It’s very close to an original „German“ bread with a nice crust and soft from the inside with nice fluffy bubbles.

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Yes! Very glad you posted this here We're going to try it next weekend on the Sunday, we have some time and I'm curious what Chia bread is like. My wife is German and unfortunately celiac. This will bring her a little of what she's been missing.

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Would love to hear how it went.

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founding

Thank you for including me in the recommendations! Notes has really been a wonderful filter to discover new writers. I just saved Stone to my reading list and am looking forward to reading it later today!

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Hey Spencer!

Okay, first thing - super glad you dropped by. I enjoyed your post on social media a lot and am glad to be in the same Substack orbit as you.

Take a look at Stone when you can, no rush or anything, but I'm looking forward to your thoughts. It was my first shot at a One Word, and it carries a lot of the DNA that went into future words.

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What a fascinating window into your life, process, and plans! I enjoyed reading Video as much as watching it. I look forward to more by you. You are creating something truly special and moving with One Word. Thank you so much for the shout out and support! PS: My husband and I were enjoying D4 Beta too! I am oddly thrilled to play the full game soon. I say oddly because I am not a fan of these types of games, but the story is immersive enough for me.

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Hey Nadia,

Thanks a lot for YOUR support.

I’m hopeful that I can keep creating these words. Although part of me is a little worried I’ll hit a point when I don’t know what new thing I can add. But I have faith it’ll work out. After each one I think I don’t have anything left and something turns up.

The D4 beta was fun, right? I was a little surprised since I had read some negative thoughts before hopping in. I especially liked the overworld and all the events you could jump into. You thinking you may write about D4 later this year?

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I understand the worry. Sometimes I worry too that I may run out of steam and ideas, but then they keep popping up. I suggest having a small notebook handy, so when an idea pops into your head you can write it down. I've no doubt you'll always grace us with something new and refreshing. You're very creative and multi-skilled! Yes, I have heard a few complaints from D fans about this or that, but I understand, they love the game and want it to be perfect. Since I'm not so much of a fan, I enjoyed it the way it is. I may write something if I get inspired!

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I meant to write glimpse but all I could think of was window lol.

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Good choice to stick with video and imagery for a while. I stumbled into that world as well, though I took the wordy route of writing a screenplay. The circumstances changed perception, just as new structures often do. I have had to learn (and am still learning) new grammars of imagery, sound, motion. It's sharpened perception, and I think has probably made me a better writer, too. I'm looking forward to what you create.

Thank you, Taegan, for this post for all the reasons Liz mentions in her comment.

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Hey Mark.

Your comment was really helpful. I can tell you’re really on that visual journey because a lot of what you mention has been floating around in my head these past weeks.

The hardest part right now is finding the best workflow to write, shoot, interview, and edit in a month. A lot of what I’m doing involves learning a new skill, and it can be frustrating. But I’m looking forward to finishing this next one and being able to hear your thoughts on it.

What’s your screenplay about?

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I have no deadline, unlike you. At least a 15-minuter is bounded by time, too, and you can manage the mechanics of it all. I thought your video was well put together. There are some tools that might help with the writing thing. Amazingly, software helps, and what I've used is free (it works on Macs only). More information on the journey I've made so far is here: https://technocomplex.substack.com/p/pour-it-in-a-different-glass. (Sorry about being That Guy who includes a web address in a comment!)

For your kind of production, here's your motto: "Ready! Shoot! Aim!"

My screenplay still is being formed, but the major action takes place in south Germany in 1938. Characters are a recent graduate from the Netherlands (philosophy, of course), an old widow, two Franciscan friars, a prioress, a beautiful librarian and assorted bad guys. I'm interested in the sort of bravery that comes with effort from youth and with vigor from the old. The characters band together briefly to protect a valuable collection. They disband and make their way into a warring continent. Based in part on a story I dug up.

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Hah I love that. Ready, shoot, aim indeed! And you’re right, I am restricted by time. Although this next one looks like it might be closer to 20 mins... still. Much shorter than a film.

Thanks for the link! I’ll dig into your article later tonight.

That premise is juicy! Are you a history buff or was it the story you found that got you itching to write a script?

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It's interesting. The idea of writing a script was almost an reflex reaction to finding the story. "This sounds like a movie," I thought. I guess I'm somewhat of a history buff, though I'm probably more accurately described as an "intellectual historian." Probably more just a regular ol' student of culture. Studied philosophy, history, theology, and literature in the US and Germany. PhD in medieval and Renaissance, mainly English.

The script has languished for a few weeks now, though I did return to it over the weekend. Funny how your mind works on things in the background, too!

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That's interesting. Funny how our education ends up being the backbone for creative work down the road.

Do you have any other films you've been looking at as inspiration for this story? Or if not, what are your favourite films based on that 1938 time period?

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