On "Confirming a Kintype"
A little guide on how to find, what sort of kin am I?
What am I?
A common question in the community, if not the most common, usually comes down to: “what am I?” And is pretty much followed by “how do I confirm what my kintype is?”
Now, before I get into this, right at the door we are going to toss the word “confirm” into the bin. It’s just not possible. No ‘kin new or old can ever confirm this for anyone or even themselves. Since our identifies as non-human have no basis of validity in science currently, we have to accept this. Instead let’s use the word “conclude”. Ah yes, that’s much better.
Great. So now that we unfortunately have established we can not in fact confirm this 100% as a fact, we can rather, come to a conclusion of what our kintype is. That, my otherly friends, is what I am going to talk about in this post.
Introspection!
From the start, being Otherkin always begins with one’s self reflection. Whether you are spiritual or psychological, your kintype is a reflection of you. It is you. This is something that has always been integral to the core meaning of Otherkinity. A deep feeling within you has brought you to this, and now its time to find out what. Within this introspection, you are gonna want to ask yourself questions.
This is probably the most important and one of my most recommended ways to start this journey actually. If you skip this, you’re gonna have a harder time figuring yourself out, cause odds are, you most likely have a thousand thoughts rushing through your head. You have awakened to a part of yourself that completes you, makes up who you are! Making sense of those thoughts will be easier to process by asking yourself questions and taking note of your answers.
Of course, joining community spaces can be helpful, as it is also common practice to receive questions from your fellow kinfolk. They are just as curious to know how you’ve come to discover this about yourself, and even help you with figuring this out. So don’t fret! We all went through this stage. :)
While introspecting and asking yourself questions, it’s definitely important to A.) Ask the right questions, and B.) Write it down somewhere or record it somehow. There really is no such thing as a wrong question per say(or likewise a wrong answer), but rather questions more suitable for the answer we are seeking.
There are 3 key questions I’ve listed, that break down into more in depth thoughts you want to consider:
What are you feeling?
- what is your body like?, your limbs?, what kind of posture?
What are you doing?
- what are your behaviors?, what are your senses like?
What are you seeing?
- how do you see your environment, what is your home like?
Those 3 starting points break down into the things you should be questioning about yourself, that once narrowed down can help lead you to a more refined conclusion. Odds are, if you answer these questions, it will eliminate a lot of potential creatures, but also open you up to ones you could consider.
If you’re having difficulty with answering them, worry not. Finding out your kintype is not an easy road and can take time. You should take your time. Never let it be a rushed conclusion. Sometimes you may end up trying to make yourself out to be something you are not, and we want to avoid that as much as we can. BUT, if you do discover something you thought was a kintype, truly wasn’t, there is nothing wrong with that!
Research and Learning
So, we’ve laid out the kind of questions you should ask yourself, but what should you do with that information? Well, now it’s time for some good old fashioned research and learning! If you’ve written down the answers to your questions, or are rather pulling them from memory, you can now apply that to searching for things that match your newfound criteria.
Whether this will be through the internet, books, or even taking a trip to the zoo, it should be easier to pinpoint what your being is. There is no limit to the sources you can use to find information, and this is in my opinion, the fun part of personal discovery! You are not only going to learn more about yourself, but also about many other creatures that you may have never even heard of!
No matter how you do it, take the information you’ve gathered and compile it into a place you can access it. A notebook, a computer file, a blog, whatever works for you! You now have a knowledge base of information you can go to when comparing your thoughts against the different creature(s) you are questioning!
Concluding you Kintype
After all that, from what you’ve put together through the work of introspection, questioning, and research; you may have come to a point now, that you feel comfortable and an inner peace in knowing this information. Its at this point, you may have very well come to a conclusion of what your kintype is! It wasn’t easy, but the effort was not fruitless! This my otherly friends, is how to come to a conclusion about your kintype. Taking all those steps above, and processing them for how ever long it takes for you to feel right in your identity.
There is no easy way out of this, though some may find it easier than others. However, the only way to truly conclude your kintype is to ask yourself the fine details of your unique experience and research what creatures sound like you!
I hope that this little guide was helpful, as I get this question more often than any other here. Remember, at the end of the day, no one can tell you what your kintype is, or if you are Otherkin or not, its something up to you to figure out!
-Zaphaera