{"id":1425,"date":"2011-08-30T16:20:25","date_gmt":"2011-08-30T20:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beginnersheart\/?p=1425"},"modified":"2011-08-30T16:20:25","modified_gmt":"2011-08-30T20:20:25","slug":"mermaids-furries-and-other-dreamers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2011\/08\/mermaids-furries-and-other-dreamers.html","title":{"rendered":"mermaids, furries and other dreamers ~"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>No, it’s not a real cat. It’s also not, according to the owner, merely a costume. It’s a fursona<\/a>. A human being who has taken on the identity — at least sometimes — of a furry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I only learned quite recently about furries. A friend of mine was telling me that her son, whom I’ve known since he was in middle school, is a furry. He identifies w\/ animals, and w\/ the furry characters from various media.<\/p>\n

A few weeks after we visited, I was in Portland, home of tolerance for most things. Sitting at a caf \u00e9 on Pioneer Square, drinking a civilised cup of great Portland coffee, w\/ a dear friend I saw something that made me start from my chair, to poke Pat hard.<\/p>\n

“Pat! Look behind you!”<\/p>\n

Pat shushed me, scolding ~ “Don’t point, Britt! That is soooo rude!”<\/p>\n

“Pat, I mean it! LOOK!”\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rolling her eyes, she turned discreetly. Her jaw dropped open. Literally.<\/p>\n

“OMG!” she said. “What IS that??”<\/p>\n

Behind her, teasing and playing w\/ his three other more normally attired friends, was a blue-fur-faced young man of probably 20 or so. Hard to tell…:) He had blue (Yup. Blue.) fur –fluffy artificial fur — glued to his face. Not a beard (although he may had one of those also…), but fur, all over his face. His arms also were painted blue, and he had a blue hoodie on. This Oklahoma girl was blown away.<\/p>\n

I had to explain furries to Pat. And we actually saw Mr. Blue a couple of other times downtown, while I was in Portland.<\/p>\n

So yesterday, my hair dresses commented on my mermaid necklace (I promise this connects). I told her my best friend — the same one who saw Mr. Blue w\/ me — loves mermaids. Kaitlin said her girlfriend also loves mermaids. “In fact,” Kaitlin offered, “she’s kind of obsessed w\/ them.”<\/p>\n

“Really…?” I said.<\/p>\n

“Yeah… She dresses up like one all the time. And she went to the Mermaid Convention<\/a> this year,” Kaitlin adds.Where a bunch of other folks (mostly women, but hey — some mermen, as well) dress up like mermaids.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“Soooo, does she dress up like a mermaid a… LOT?” I ask. And Kaitlin nods… “She carries her tail with her.”<\/p>\n

“Everywhere<\/em>?” I’m not believing this.<\/p>\n

“Even on a cruise,” Kaitlin says.<\/p>\n

“Wow. Did anyone go w\/ her?” I’m thinking what it would be like to be on a cruise where one of the passengers carried her mermaid tail w\/ her everywhere…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“Yeah,” Kaitlin answers. “Me.”<\/p>\n

And now<\/em> I’m wondering what it would be like to be the girl with<\/em> the girl w\/ the mermaid tail. So I ask. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

“Embarrassing,” Kaitlin admits. “At least sometimes.”<\/p>\n

So these are my stories. About adults — albeit younger ones in their 20s — who dress up like fictional and\/or mythical creatures. Who identify w\/ them so strongly that they believe, in some cases, that they are<\/em> furries. Or mermaids. Or mermen…<\/p>\n

What is it about dreams that can take us over? What is it about life today that sends intelligent, thoughtful & creative people into fantasy worlds where they can be something other than human? There’s a kind of schizophrenia, in which the schizphrenic constructs a realistic and holistic fantasy world, in which s\/he lives. This is NOT to say\"\"<\/a> that mermaids & furries are schizophrenic. But I used to think, if the world gets too much for me, I’ll just build my own world inside my head and live there<\/em>. And perhaps that’s what Kaitlin’s mermaid friend and Mr. Blue are doing — building better worlds for themselves.<\/p>\n

And yes, it does<\/em> have to do w\/ love, and beginner’s heart. \ud83d\ude42 Because my friend is trying to understand her furry son. And Kaitlin went on the cruise w\/ her girlfriend knowing\u00a0 <\/em>that Mermaid would carry her tail. Everywhere :).<\/p>\n

That’s love — uncritical of oddities, responsive to the other’s crazy (but harmless) choices. I wish I could be that accepting. But I’m trying. And mermaids and furries are helping \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No, it’s not a real cat. It’s also not, according to the owner, merely a costume. It’s a fursona. A human being who has taken on the identity — at least sometimes — of a furry. I only learned quite recently about furries. A friend of mine was telling me that her son, whom I’ve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,15,167,1],"tags":[11,1181,1187,168,169],"class_list":["post-1425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-belief","category-compassion","category-popular-culture","category-uncategorized","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhism","tag-furries","tag-mermaid-convention"],"yoast_head":"\nmermaids, furries and other dreamers ~ - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"No, it's not a real cat. 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