Day 655: How to freak less

I’ve written four previous posts with the word “freak” in them:

1. Day 243: Freaked-out-nomics
2. Day 370: Reasons why snail mail freaks me out
3. Day 405: Freaking Out 
4. Day 641: Lots of freakin ____

… so I think it’s about time I focused on something useful, like How to Freak Less.

Yesterday, I freaked less on my drive to work because I took my time getting there. Even when my GPS system, Waze, reported

Watch out. Heavy traffic ahead.

… I remained calm. As a matter of fact, I was glad for the traffic, because it allowed me to take these photos, through my rainy window:

 

After I parked my car, I took my time walking to work.

To recap: freak less by taking more time.

Then, when I was at work, I walked by a door that has, already, appeared in this blog four times before (here, here, here, and here):

.

This time, the door was open, so I introduced myself to the inhabitant of that office, Sandy.  I told Sandy that

• her sign has appeared in this blog,
• people had speculated whether the sign said, “hope” or “nope,” and
• I was very pleased the sign said “hope.”

Sandy invited me into her office, and I saw many more things that pleased me, including:

Those three paintings were done by Sandy’s three daughters.

I liked this sign, too.

As I was leaving, Sandy changed the sign on her door.

To recap:  freak less by walking through doors, meeting new people, and seeing new things.

Last night, I facilitated a therapy group where people shared their experience of dealing with transitions.

To recap: freak less by sharing more.

Speaking of sharing, I’d like to share a tune I heard on my way home, after work.

Actually, before that, I’d like to share how I first encountered this song, when I was a kid:

Wow!  After all the living I’ve done since I first saw  “A Lot of Living to Do” (from the movie Bye Bye Birdie), I can see there’s

50’s and 60’s stuff there.

Eeeeek!  Hold on! I can’t find Pat Metheny’s amazing version of “A Lot of Living to Do” on YouTube, which I heard last night and wanted to share with you today! And I have to get to a 7:30 AM “retreat” soon, where there will be

doctors, nurses, therapists, and other healthcare providers, working together to come up with ideas about how to make patient care better, in the future.

Is it time for me to do

… here and now?????????????????

Instead, I shall heed my own advice and

• take time,
• walk through doors,
• meet new people,
•  see new things,
• and share more

… by including this YouTube video of Mr. Louis Armstrong singing and playing “A Lot of Living to Do”:

And, speaking of meeting new people, I’ve never heard of Nick Ziobro before today, featured here performing at Birdland:

Okay!

This post, today, has

• talents,
• sights,
• sounds,
• thoughts,
• feelings,
• moving,
• nostalgia,
• signs,
• weather,
• photos,
• transitions, and
• freakin other things.

I

there’ll be

comments, too.

Thanks to Sandy, to her daughters, to everybody who appeared in this post,  and to all those who have a lot of living to do, including (of course!) freakin you.