Day 544: Themes

I notice themes, in therapy groups I do and elsewhere.

Here’s something I say to people before they join my groups: “No matter who else is in the room with you,  as everybody speaks, shared themes will emerge.”

It might seem like I’m using the cognitive distortion of fortune-telling,  there.  I mean, aren’t I predicting the future?  Will that really happen, every time?

So far, so good. In every session I’ve done, each group identifies a theme they want to explore together, whether it’s family, loss, other people, hope, shame, expressing feelings, sense of self, internalized negative messages, fear of rejection, what helps, what doesn’t help, failure/success, joy, disappointment, accepting positive feedback, self-care, and so on.

Yes, I think about themes, a lot. And I write about them, here at WordPress.

Yesterday, I wrote about the theme of “Reflections.” About a month ago, I wrote a post called “What is the theme of this post?” which reflects my preference for inviting others to notice themes for themselves.

After 543 days, I am finally writing a post titled, simply, “Themes.”

This post is a kind of continuation from yesterday’s post, showing more themes I tend to notice, all around me.

As usual, I’ll show you some photos I’ve recently taken. One more thing: I like creating structure, as a way of leaving room for play, so I’ll make the order alphabetical.

 

Animals:

 

 

 

 

Buildings:

   

 

Coincidences:

 

 

 

Diagonals:

 

Paths:

  

 

Signs, signs, signs:

  

 

Solving Problems:

I had to include this, on my list of themes today, so I could brag about a trivial — but incredibly long-standing — problem I finally solved this week.

For as long as I can remember, this has been hanging around in my office:

Here’s a closer look at it:

It’s a slip of paper that has been stuck in the vent on the ceiling of my office.  When air comes through, it flutters around, but it never lets go. People, when they’ve noticed it, have commented about it, wondering what it might be.

What does it look like, to you?

People who have noticed it have also named the obstacles to removing it. The ceiling of my office is quite high (way taller than any person who has entered my office) and there’s no ladder around.

In the meantime, the paper and the people in my office have been happy to coexist. However, I have been curious about that paper, and have wanted the option of removing it.

Two days ago, after getting a very good night’s sleep at a hospital sleep study, I looked at the problem differently. Using some tools at hand, including ….

… I solved the problem.

I wonder if anyone will notice?

Thanks to those who notice themes,  people in my groups, animals, buildings, coincidences, diagonals, paths, problems and their solutions,  sleep studies, slips of paper, anything or anyone that has contributed to the creation of this post, and — especially — to you, for noticing what you have, today.