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If you’re new here, welcome.

Amygdala Universe is a long-form personal publication focused on emotional clarity, Javanese cosmology, and reflective cultural writing rooted in lived experience. This space began as a way to steady myself. Writing was how I slowed down what was happening inside my body long enough to understand it.

Over time, these pages became an archive: not of conclusions, but of process. Most of what you will read here was written while I was still living through it.

I write about emotional regulation, burnout, therapy, inherited patterns, identity, and responsibility. I also write about weton, pasaran cycles, and Javanese time calculation, part of what is often referred to as Javanese cosmology. And I write about melali, movement, and observation under the tag #ScooterTraveler.

Nothing here is written from a distance; everything is written from experience.

What This Site Explores

This publication centers around three main themes:

• Emotional clarity and self-regulation

• Javanese cosmology and character mapping through weton

• Reflective writing on culture, healing, and travel

If you’re unsure where to begin, choose the doorway that feels closest to where you are right now.

Emotional Clarity & Self-Reflection

Many readers arrive here because they are functioning: working, responding, fulfilling roles, yet something underneath feels unsettled. Not dramatic. Not catastrophic. Just heavy.

You might begin with:

• Signs You’re Functioning — But Not Actually Okay

• When Rest Doesn’t Feel Restful

• How to Slow Down Without Feeling Like You’re Falling Behind

These essays explore burnout, nervous system awareness, emotional exhaustion, and the discipline of learning to regulate rather than suppress.

Javanese Cosmology

My writing on Javanese cosmology grows from personal study and lived cultural exposure. It includes reflections on weton calculation, pasaran cycles, and the relationship between time, identity, and consequence.

For some readers, Western astrology offered language but eventually felt limited. Javanese systems, as I approach them, feel more contextual. They offer structure without removing personal responsibility.

Start with:

• Javanese Cosmology Guide

• If Astrology Never Worked For You, Read This First

• Essays exploring weton and character patterns through Javanese time cycles

Achework

Achework is a reflective writing series for women who are capable, high-functioning, and quietly tired. It is not written to optimize or motivate. It is written to sit with what is already present.

You can begin with:

• Dear Strong One: It’s Okay to Be Tired

• Dear Strong One: Soft Anger, Quiet Grief

• Dear Strong One: You’re Allowed to Feel Nothing

These pieces hold space for emotional numbness, restrained anger, and grief that rarely get acknowledged.

Melali (#ScooterTraveler)

Melali means to travel. But here, it also carries the practice of moving attentively. Under #ScooterTraveler, I write from the road, often across Bali, about how place influences perception and how environment shapes reflection.

This is not destination writing, it’s field notes. If you are drawn to movement and observation, explore the Melali archive.

About Me

I’m Ega Mpokgaga. I am a domestic violence survivor. Therapy was not a last resort for me; it was a conscious decision. I wanted to understand my nervous system, my coping patterns, and the inherited responses I carried without questioning. I wanted clarity, even when clarity required discomfort.

Everything here is rooted in lived experience first, then reflection. If you’d like to understand the longer context behind this archive, you can read A Short Introduction.

This site is ongoing; it’s not a finished statement. It’s a record of learning in real time, and you can begin anywhere.