My Personal Conclusion

First and foremost, hello. It's been a while since I've spoken.

This thread will address my theory of therianthropy based on my own collective introspection, experiences and a mix-mash of things I've read during the time I spent chronically online in this community. If this resonates with you, I'm glad it does and encourage you to add on. If this doesn't resonate but instead intrigues you, by all means feel free to contribute.

I disclaimer all of this by the fact that I am, undeniably, someone who's impatient in coming to a conclusion, and that I've undeniably embarrassed myself before in this community because of that fact. Consider this thread to be, as of January 2023, where I stand in my understandings of therianthropy.

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Regarding therianthropy as a whole

This identity is experience based through and through. You believe because you have experienced, or you know because you have experienced. Experience, belief and identity are highly correlated from what I have gathered. I'm no where near as experienced in this community as some other folks, and don't claim to be, but this has generally been the consensus I've come to in my time spent here.

The 'trigger' for this experience differs from person to person. Some have experienced it in a spiritual sense, others due to something based in psychology (i.e., trauma, mental illness, etc.). Many appear to have had a diluted sense of their inner animality from a young age, while others become aware (or, awaken, mind you) later on in life. Apologies if my terminology usage is incorrect, I haven't been present for the past year.

The cookie cutter shape of the animal we experience ourselves to be is different for everyone. What makes Sally Sue experience being a wolf with highly similar experience to Jimmy John's despite his experience being a dog is, from my understanding, still an unknown and highly debated gray area. I'm most intrigued by this aspect of therianthropy, and have spent a long time hounding myself over it, hence my lack of consistency in identifying an animal to my personal experiences.

I don't understand what constitutes an experience being distinguishably, for example, wolf versus tiger, and I certainly don't understand the line in the sand that gets drawn between an experience fitting one animal over another. I've observed for some this distinction is intuitively based, meaning their intuition leads them to correlate it with a given animal. Others have made this distinction on scientific research and observed behavior of a specified animal, thus helping them make that key distinction. I believe this is the most subjective aspect of therianthropy - finding the animal that helps explain the experience. You may find your experience fits one animal, whereas someone else says it fits another much better. Subjectivity is key, in my opinion, in this regard.

The categories or types of experience someone may have is something I won't get into, but what I will say is, again, this is another highly subjective area of therianthropy. If you're familiar with the expression "I think, therefore I am", then this is the best analogy I can give as to the different ways we've come to label certain experiences. You don't just think you are, you experience that you are - humans are afraid of the unknown, hence our eagerness to label everything and to have it all make sense. In other words, why some people experience shifts versus those who feel constantly shifted I have no idea, but the best I can conclude (at the moment) is the aforementioned analogy.

Regarding personal experience

Who's ready for more of my nonsense?

At age 8 or so, I experienced a sense of wolf inside me. I believe the wolf came to me in a metaphysical sense, where I wasn't experiencing something of a spiritual nature or necessarily a psychological origin, but something that had to due with my perception of reality. I perceived, or experienced, that a wolf was inside me, and we habitually coexisted.

Around age 11 to 13, I went through some trauma and began understanding, more consciously than I had before, my disabilities. The wolf, as aforementioned, turned on me during this timeframe. I was at war with myself and my mental health for quite some time, and during this felt extremely alone and misunderstood by both my peer group and family. I discovered therianthropy a few years into this struggle (I believe I was 15, maybe 16), and felt heard by this concept of feeling nonhuman. The rest is history.

I've sat down with very few people in my real life and have explained to them my experience of the wolf. I'd been portraying this inner animal of mine in artwork since I was 13 or so, as that was the only way I found I could really express what was going on. The two people that are aware of this are as follows; a professional, licensed psychologist, and an old friend. The friend accepted my explanation and concluded that it was what it was, whereas the psychologist offered the explanation that this experience is what my brain chose to do in order to survive - in other words, a coping mechanism.

Having come to terms with and being proactive about my disabilities and mental health, I feel that this inner sense of wolf I experienced was psychological. I believed because I experienced, and never felt my experiences fit anywhere based on the places I visited or the people I spoke to in this community. I lied, out of impatience and being a child, in order to fit in, and I own up to that factoid. I do deeply apologize to those I may have hurt now as an adult, but I wish to move on and, depending on how things carry on, see where I stand in this community and my activity.

Furthermore, any and all of my experiences of animality, therianthropy and human disconnect I feel is attached to a psychological explanation. I stress this is my personal experience. I don't like saying I shifted because of this, and I don't like saying I identify as for the same reasoning. It is my belief that, in terms of an explanation, my animality is psychological, and was a coping mechanism that my brain turned to as a means of survival. I still feel, to this day, that the wolf and I are habitually coexistent. My artwork, what very little I make anymore, is reflective of this. I recognize I am physically human, but mentally do not view myself in that sense. I have always been an animal of some sort, but do not experience and thus feel ashamed of not having shifts. As I've stated before, I liken my experience to the statement "I think, therefore I am.".

I don't know and don't understand where I'd begin to even label myself, but I feel that's alright all things considered. I'd be interested to hear what others have to share or add on, and hope this resonates with someone out there who's in a similar boat such as my own.

I am left somewhat speechless...thank God for the keyboard at my talons to help me somewhat organize my racing thoughts.

This hit home for me, and I saw myself in a lot of what you've said. I like your explanation on psychological therianthropy; so simple, yet deep and meaningful. I try too much to label everything, to find a logical reason for the things I experience, and why, and it becomes exhausting at times. I think I need to back off and let myself just exist.

(2023-01-12 17:01)Bad Wrote:  This identity is experience based through and through. You believe because you have experienced, or you know because you have experienced.

This. I need to follow this, to feel, to leave myself be and just experience. Forget about labels, about explaining everything to others, to myself. Instead I need to focus on living as my authentic self and being me, not a stress-inducing, dull, organized planner, but a scrapbook filled with memories and pictures and life. Filled with happiness and unapologetic colorful chaos.

I have begun rambling, I know...but I just wanted to thank you for sharing. It confirmed a few things that had been brought to light for me recently

(2023-01-12 22:02)Kotuko Wrote:  I try too much to label everything, to find a logical reason for the things I experience, and why, and it becomes exhausting at times. I think I need to back off and let myself just exist.

I find, and have been told repeatedly throughout my life, that you can't make logic out of something that follows a very illogical path, that being emotions and feelings. I'll admit that despite knowing this, it hasn't stopped me from doing it over and over again. It's a hard habit to knock off, but reminding myself that it is what it is has honestly been the most helpful thing to tell myself in moments where my brain is doing mental gymnastics over why I'm feeling something.

You'll always be your harshest critic, but it's important to know when to cut yourself some slack.

(2023-01-12 22:02)Kotuko Wrote:  I need to follow this, to feel, to leave myself be and just experience. Forget about labels, about explaining everything to others, to myself. Instead I need to focus on living as my authentic self and being me, not a stress-inducing, dull, organized planner, but a scrapbook filled with memories and pictures and life. Filled with happiness and unapologetic colorful chaos.

Couldn't have said it better myself. One of the most therapeutic things I've done for myself in relieving this type of stress is to remind myself the only thing I truly have to prove anything to is myself. There's a point you reach when you've explained your experiences so many times that you literally become a mini professional at knowing just what to say in order to give other people the exact thing they're looking to hear. At least this was my experience, but I definitely encourage you to take the time to enjoy the things that help you feel connected and content with who you are.

I'm so glad to hear that this resonated with you, genuinely I am. My inbox is always open for further chats if you'd like.