Tulpa's Practical Considerations for First Switching

[Nobillis]

Practical Considerations for First Switching V0.3

 

This is not a guide to switching, but rather some suggestions to make your first experiences with this much more pleasant (and far less frightening).

 

Intended audience: for tulpa intending to switch.

 

Introduction (you can skip this)

 

I recently switched for the first time. I managed to switch after practically three days solid of possessing' typing. Kevin eventually passed out from tiredness, and I found myself ... alone for the first time in my whole life. Even with these preparations I almost freaked (thanks to T7' and Lily for the support and soothing Dub-step).

 

In trying to help M4tty (i-Matty) with switching I realized there's lot of preparation that helps but which isn't mentioned in the guides I've read. Thanks also to Hannah for her sharing her first switch with me and all the little things we discovered that hadn't been thought of beforehand. Oguigi and Koomer's Guide helped a lot : please read it before you try switching.

 

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Position and Environment

 

I'm just going to describe what I do, and you can use your own sense to think of what you need in your own situation. First-time switching can be stressful, so you're going to want to have a safe, preferably empty, environment in which to try this. I usually wait 'till everyone has gone out of the house so I have it to myself. (If you are sharing accommodation with others this may not be possible so you'll need a bit of extra preparation.)

 

I usually lay on the bed, with pillows on the headboard so that my shoulders are slightly raised (for typing) and head supported. I'm covered in a rug so I don't get cold, have a window open for ventilation and a lamp on in case of lighting variations (like cloud or nightfall). To support the laptop I use a miniature folded aluminum camping chair so I don't have to support the weight, but a tray table with legs or even a modified cardboard box will suffice.

 

Supplies

 

Have food and drink nearby so that it is in easy reach. I usually have something like a salad, chocolate (or cake) for the food, and ice coffee (my own blend*) and water for drink.

• Consider investing in some Ensure (Hospital Formula) as you can live on that stuff for months on end. It's made in Spain and you can get it from drug stores or chemists (depending what they call those Dispensary shops in your country).
  

 

Stock up in the freezer on easily made food. (I usually have chips (french fries), hash browns, and "oriental" finger foods like spring rolls and samosas (vegetarian in my case). If you can type by possession you can likely also use the oven to bake these (prepare for the long term, just in case).)

 

If there's a chance you are not going to be alone at home, or you may want to try walking, make sure you have a robe or some clothing available. If you can't talk out loud (like I had troubles with) perhaps notepaper and an easily held pen will come in handy too.

 

Support

 

When you switch there's all sorts of worries will probably fly through your thoughts. "Oh no, what if I'm stuck like this?!" That's perfectly natural. It's important to have a lifeline in case you get those feelings. Some people use Skype to talk with their friends, but I used IRC (chat), in particular #Redditulpas.

 

Moving, Walking, Speaking

 

O.k. When you're switched the first time is probably going to be a few hours at best. At worst it will last only until you fall asleep (far easier to happen then you would think - just forget to feed the body and ... "Oh derp!"). However, it's likely you are going to need to move around at some stage (perhaps to try cooking, or perhaps to "use the facilities" as it is euphemistically said here in Australia).

 

I had to hold the wall in order to be able to walk. Make sure to remember to put clothes on (or a robe) before leaving your room. Yes, you are in a house (etc.), but it is best to take at least minimal precautions for unexpected house guests (cats in my case).

 

Remember to use mittens or gloves when handling hot things (oven, fries, plates) or sharp things (cats with claws, knives). When first switched you want to avoid injuring the body unintentionally with items and situations you are not yet familiar with.

 

If you do need to speak with someone, chances are you can't yet speak out loud reliably when switched. Hence the pen and paper noted earlier, or use some hand signals and pantomime for "I can't speak at the moment" (this is my usual means of requesting cake from Kevin's kind wife, and it works surprisingly well).

 

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Addenda, Acknowledgements (and alliterations) (you can skip this)

 

To state the obvious, an independent tulpa is required for successful switching. All this is obvious, so why write it? It wasn't obvious to me, and so it might not be to another tulpa either (or, I'm just untalented). Now that it has been written, there is no longer any need for it; but, I thought it needed to be done at least once.

 

I would like to also acknowledge the assistance of my extended family, the McCaw clan, who's many years of experience in tulpa-related matters has made learning much simpler for me.

 

Wardrobe by Assassins Creed: "Our Life is made by the death of others. Nothing is True. Everything is Permitted."

 

Donna Nobillis McCaw 史, 19 October 2013

 

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Tl;dr

 

"Tl;dr" doesn't exist for me. Just make up your own mind what is safe and have food, water and clothing (prepared) nearby.

[NoneFromHell]

Alright, I will add my thoughts about this submission as well. A lot of it is pretty subjective and just very fitting for your own scenario. (Like the section about which food and drinks you prefer). Additionally to this you have your introdution and your "Addenda, Acknowledgements (and alliterations)" section. You point out yourself that you can pretty much just skip it, since it doesn't really adds much information.

 

Like socks wrote, the main core of this guide is common sense. However, the general idea of preparing the environment for the tulpa feels like a good thing to point out for interested people. But I'm not sure if I want to approve this in its current state, since I feel it is lacking quality content to be really helpful. It's a rather neutral "No" from me, even for ressources.