Last week, when the social workers at my hospital gathered together in person for the first time in three years for a team-building event, I didn’t think “here comes trouble” because I have a high level of immunity to COVID (completely boosted, with a recent bout of the virus in February).
When the social workers were asked to briefly introduce ourselves and perhaps include our favorite ice cream flavor, I said my name, where I worked in the hospital, “Rocky Road, and I’m wearing socks that say ‘here comes trouble.’”
Here comes trouble: since then, I’ve wondered if saying I was wearing “here comes trouble” socks was too
Here comes trouble — human minds usually search for the negatives to try to keep ourselves safe, but that can cause useless and troubling thoughts. There’s enough real trouble in the world without wasting time on “here comes trouble” cognitive distortions, like mind-reading.
Here comes some personal, health-related trouble. Before I test my INR with my home device every other Sunday morning, I’m feeling “here comes trouble” feelings and thinking “here comes trouble” thoughts. Here comes the explanation: if the number that appears on my measuring device is not between the small range of 3.0 – 3.5, here comes trouble for me. Since I had a mini-stroke in September when my INR was 2.4, I have the trouble of needing to give myself an injection if the number is below 2.7. Also, if the INR number is too low, my mechanical heart valve could get clogged and need replacement with another very troubling open heart surgery. And if the number is above 3.5, that could cause troubling bleeding.
Whenever I test my INR, I always have to wait what feels like a troublingly long time (probably only about 10 seconds) to find out if here comes trouble. Here comes my INR result for today from here-comes-trouble me …
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Here comes relief! Now I’ll wait another two weeks to see if here comes trouble again.
Let’s see if here comes trouble in my other images for today.
Because I do my best to keep my INR in the no-trouble range by eating the right amount of spinach — which contains anti-coagulating vitamin K — every single day, here comes my celebration of National Spinach and Spinach Festival Day!
Last night, on an empty-stomach walk before dinner, my husband Michael and I discussed
how the new toilet’s fill tank stays empty too long after flushing,
our lives that are thankfully not empty of wonderful people and cats, and
politicians (including speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy) who seem empty of integrity, honesty, and a soul, which made me think of the The Hollow Menby T.S. Eliot.
I don’t want this blog post to be empty of poetry, so here’s that poem:
Do you see any things that are empty in my images for today?
There are a lot of empty conspiracy theories out there, spread by empty people.
I’m sure that YouTube is not empty of “empty” videos.
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This is the way my blogs end, this is the way my blogs end, this is the way my blogs end, not with a bang but a thank you.
Yesterday, on OK day, I figured it would be okay to ask people on Twitter a question related to that — like “what helps you feel okay?” — and I decided to go with a simple yes or no question: “Are you okay?”
While I usually think yes-or-no questions are just okay and not as good as open-ended questions, I went with “are you okay?” probably because I really would have appreciated hearing that question at difficult moments in my life. As a matter of fact, I wrote a blog post many years ago when I was not so okay, citing these “are you okay” lyrics from the song “Smooth Criminal”:
I truly wish people had asked me “Are you okay?” (repeatedly, without taking “yes” for an answer) when I was a brave little girl in the hospital not admitting how scary it was to be experiencing many heart-related surgeries.
And I like hearing “Are you okay?” as an adult, because it tells me that people care enough to ask and hear an honest answer.
Are you okay with this blog post so far and are you okay with these images I want to share with you today?
Are you okay with this video I found on YouTube by searching with “are you okay?”
Are you okay? I really want to know.
Thanks to all who ask and answer the question “are you okay?” — including YOU!
Whenever I do my groups, read your comments, or connect with other people, I know that no one is alone.
Last night, I was alone when I went to the latest production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods in Boston, which includes the song “No One Is Alone.”
Even those of us who had come to the theatre alone last night knew that no one is alone when we heard Stephen Sondheim’s beautifully unifying music and lyrics. We also knew that no one is alone as we cheered and applauded together as one, after every single song throughout the performance.
Do you see evidence that no one is alone in my images for today?
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No one is alone if they love kittens or puppies, have near misses, realize they’re OK, or talk about the weather on World Meteorological Day.
No one is alone struggling to deal with the aftermath of the pandemic. Today, I’ll know that no one is alone when, for the first time in over three years, I attend a social workers meeting in-person at the hospital where I work.
Thanks to all those who help us realize that no one is alone, including YOU!
Here I am, venting again for the 3733th day in a row!
Right now, I’m trying to figure out how to get more health care workers at my hospital to attend biweekly groups for venting about challenging patients. I’m venting, here, my concern that people might think that venting doesn’t help. Or, with all the other things they have to do, they might not think they have time for venting.
My experience as a therapist and a human being has shown me that venting can be very useful. Just by starting this venting blog post, I already feel better.
Of course, there’s more venting ahead.
The Daily Bitch, with her venting, is reminding me of those challenging people who take up too much space in our heads.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “venting.”
Also, while my husband Michael and I were venting our feelings about the news yesterday, he shared this video with me:
I wonder who will be venting in the comments section, below?
At the end of every blog post, I’m venting (to review, giving free expression to a strong emotion) my gratitude for YOU!
Because I’ve been an English Major, a writer, a teacher, and psychotherapist, I am very interested in storytelling.
Here, now, are some of my storytelling thoughts:
We have old, limiting stories we tell about ourselves (some of which are unconscious repetitions of stories others have told about us) that can hold us back from telling new, more expansive, inclusive, and fulfilling stories.
Storytelling can help heal ourselves, others, and the world (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it, as some storytellers say).
Storytelling, whether fact or fiction, always includes important truths.
Every day, in this blog, I am storytelling through words and pictures (which I try to organize into some sort of story).
That’s a very long list to integrate into coherent storytelling, isn’t it?
Here’s something I’m glad to find on YouTube when I look for “storytelling.”
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I look forward to the storytelling in the comments section and thanks to all who read my daily storytelling, including YOU!
Last night, when I was having dinner with three of my favorite people — my son Aaron and my 1st and 2nd husbands — at a favorite restaurant of three of us, we talked about how some people think in terms of favorites and others don’t. It seemed like I was the only one at the table who liked to ask and answer questions about favorites.
Deliberately reaching for an awkward moment, I said to my son, “For example, who’s your favorite parent?” My favorite (and only) son smiled.
Do you see any favorites in my images for today?
It’s easy for me to act happy today because my favorite season is Spring!
Before I go to my favorite job ever (working as a group therapist at a major Boston hospital), I’ll look for “favorites” on YouTube.
You probably know that my favorite way to end every blog post is expressing my gratitude for YOU.
In an awkward moment last night, I asked this question on Twitter:
Just now, I had another awkward moment when I clicked on “1 Quote” to find the one tweet that had quoted mine and got this:
(Is it awkward that my punning mind looks at that bird and thinks, “Squackward!”?)
After I asked that question about awkward moments last night on Twitter, I had an awkward moment when I wished I had asked a different question, which was “How do you deal with awkward moments?” My answer to that question might be, “I recognize that we all have them, so what’s so bad about awkward moments anyway?”
Other awkward moments yesterday included getting a message on my laptop that said “your disk is almost full” and somebody farting (yes, I feel too awkward to reveal more details).
Do you see awkward moments in my blog post for today?
I’m having an awkward moment, right now, where that picture of Joan (with the newly installed shower seat, which will help me deal with awkward moments as I age) is reminding me of this:
Here’s what I find when I search for “awkward moments” on YouTube:
I’m grateful for all the moments I get to share with you, including the awkward moments.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 