Day 1734: How do we work together?

How do we work together? That seems to be an important question these days.

How do people at Mount Auburn Hospital’s Cardiac Rehab work together? Based on all the hours I’ve spent there over the last few years, I’d say they work together beautifully. Kathy — the head of that department who has worked there for many years — is retiring and her last day was yesterday. I was invited to a surprise party to say thanks for all her years of working together so well with so many people.

Here are some photos I took at Cardiac Rehab yesterday:

 

I loved working together with Kathy, Danise, and Carla all those hours I spent in cardiac rehab. I worked out what I wanted to write to Kathy beforehand.

If you can’t work out what I wrote there, it says

Dear Kathy,

Thank you for your beautifully kind and caring heart, which has helped heal and strengthen so many hearts, including mine.

Is there any evidence of how we work together in my other photos from yesterday?

There were donuts at the party celebrating Kathy’s working together with others at Cardiac Rehab, but I couldn’t get it together to take a photo of them.

“How do we work together?” is also the question that inspires this incredible number from Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along:

How do we work together without gratitude? I don’t know.  So, thanks to all who inspired this post and to you — of course! — for working together with me.

Day 1733: I don’t know what to do.

Last night, in a therapy group, somebody kept saying, “I don’t know what to do.”

I suggested that people write down “I don’t know what to do” and then express thoughts and feelings about that.

I wrote a poem titled “I don’t know what to do” but I didn’t take a picture of it, so now I don’t know what to do.

I know what to do. I’ll show you the photos I did take yesterday.

That’s my friend and co-worker Megan, who is leaving soon. I don’t know what to do without her.

Here are some things to do when you don’t know what to do.

• Speak up.

• Find your purpose.
• Listen to music.

• Express gratitude for all you have and all who support you, every day.

 

Day 1732: Got a second?

Got a second? I’d like to tell you about yesterday’s appointment with my cardiologist, Dr. Salem (who is second to none).  While I was waiting several seconds in the exam room for Dr. Salem, I took a second to snap this:

Got a second to hear about my conversation with Dr. Salem?  Dr. Salem said he couldn’t be more pleased about how my heart is beating every second, as I begin my second year after my heart valve replacement surgery last September.   I seconded that opinion.

Got a second to look at some more split-second photos?

Got a second to listen to “A Good Thing Going” from Merrily We Roll Along, which I’ll be seeing for a second time this weekend?

If you’ve got a second, keep a good thing going by leaving a comment below.

I’ve always got a second to thank all who help me create these posts. Second, I want to thank YOU for being so supportive, every second.

Day 1731: The Beet Goes On

Yesterday, beets went on my salad at lunch.

Then, I posted that photo on Facebook:

This is what I’m having for lunch on the 7th anniversary of my first contact with Michael, which was a message about how we both disliked beets.

Here’s the first message I sent to my boyfriend Michael seven years ago after I saw his OkCupid profile, which was hilarious and adorable and quirky and  mentioned his dislike of beets.

I also hate beets.  You actually didn’t use the word “hate.” You were much more diplomatic.

Ann

Michael didn’t miss a beat and wrote back:

Well, you have to be diplomatic in public forums. I mean, you never know who’ll have a disturbing passion for beets or something and send you psychotic messages for the next seven months. Between you and me, I detest beets.

Since then, we’ve grown fonder of beets and of each other.

Let’s celebrate our anniversary to the beat of some music and photos!

 

 

I’m looking forward to many more beets, beats, delicious meals, sunrises, and sunsets in the future.

Thanks to Michael and everyone else who contributed to every beat and beet of this post and thanks to YOU — of course! —  for staying to celebrate our anniversary.

 

Day 1730: It’s not that you’re leaving. It’s that you stayed.

Yesterday, I stayed at my computer to read this transcript of Lesley Stahl’s  interview with U.S. Senator John McCain.

This exchange — about his having the same kind of brain cancer a dear friend of mind is currently battling —  will not be leaving me any time soon:

Lesley Stahl: Do you think that this diagnosis has changed you?

John McCain: No.

Lesley Stahl: Not at all. Same person?

John McCain: No, I think you gotta– you know, you just have to understand that it’s not that you’re leaving. It’s that you– that you stayed.

Yesterday,  I was talking to another dear friend, Megan, who works with me and will be leaving the job soon because of a long commute and family obligations. Megan and I have been focusing on her leaving with tears and sadness.  When I said to her, yesterday, “It’s not that you’re leaving.  It’s that you stayed,” we both felt better.

It’s not that you’re leaving this post at the end, it’s that you stayed to read my words and look at my photographs.

That’s Megan’s office door, and I’m already imagining what it’s going to be like when she closes that door for the last time, in three weeks,  when she leaves. It helps me to remember that it’s not that she’s leaving; it’s that she stayed.

It’s not that I left Merrily We Roll Along at the end of the performance on Saturday.  It’s that I stayed to hear “Opening Doors.”

 

Thanks to you all, for staying.

 

 

 

Day 1729: New words

Pre-form-ance Anxiety

The anxiety one feels before filling out a form.

Kneeologisms

New words or phrases inspired by new news stories (which may be related to knees).

Condesexsion

A attitude of patronizing disdain based on a belief in the superiority and inferiority of different sexes.

Halloweenie

Someone who gets squeamish about  death images associated with Halloween.

Seaking

Looking to the sea for inspiration and solace.

Techycardia

A rapid heartbeat induced by unpleasant technology-related surprises.

Photogsynthesis

Presenting a group of photographs together  with hopes that they illuminate, clarify, or entertain.

Eutubing

Using YouTube videos for the good of your blog.

 

Grattitude

An attitude of gratitude, especially at the end of a blog post, for all who contribute and all who read (including YOU)!

Day 1728: Not a day goes by

Not a day goes by that I’m not

• grateful,
• worried,
• happy,
• sad,
• satisfied,
• disappointed,
• nourished,
• nourishing,
• trying my best to be in the moment,
• letting go of judgment,
• blogging, and
• taking photos.

 

 

 

Not a day goes by that I’m not amazed how many wonderful people have unusual hearts (like my new friend Annie, with me, above).

Not a day goes by that I’m not hearing a Stephen Sondheim song in my head, like this one from “Merrily We Roll Along.”

Not a day goes by that I’m not eager to hear people’s different perspectives, in blog comments and elsewhere.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, not a day goes by that I’m not grateful — for all those who help me create these posts and YOU.

Day 1727: What kind of day would be perfect for you?

What kind of beginning would be perfect for this day’s post?

What kind of day would be perfect for me?

Any kind of day that includes Leonard Bernstein‘s music would be perfect for me.

 

What kind of day would be perfect for you?

As usual, I like to end with thanks to all who help me create these posts every perfect day and — of course! — to you.

Day 1726: Different perspectives

Because I’m a group therapist, I often encounter different people expressing  different perspectives. For example, earlier this week I invited people to practice mindfulness by focusing on a vase of flowers in the group room.  After the mindfulness exercise,  we heard these different perspectives:

• “I love flowers.”
• “I’m not a flower person.”
• “Flowers help me relax.”
• I wondered if those flowers are  fake.”
• “Flowers remind me of funerals.”
• “I need to remember to stop and smell the flowers.”

Yesterday, I thought about different perspectives as I was taking this photo:

All the different perspectives in that photo may not be clear, but several people are taking pictures there and each of us has a different perspective on Boston’s Fenway Park.  I wish I could show you all those different perspectives.

Lately, many of the different perspectives I encounter include  expressions of anxiety, depression, stress, uncertainty, worry, concerns for others, and concern for self.  Different people also express and learn different perspectives on how to feel better and take the next right step. Sometimes, I suggest trying on this different perspective:

It’s safer than it feels.

Every person who is reading this post has a different perspective and my perspective is that I would love to know all those  different perspectives.

There are different perspectives about “Different Perspectives” on YouTube, but this is the most popular one:

 

Thanks to all the different perspectives that help me create different blog posts and thanks to you — of course! — for all your different perspectives.

 

Day 1725: Just Right

On the eighth day of my long blogging journey, I wrote a post titled “Too ____, too ____, or just right? (Thanks a lot, Goldilocks.)” Today, on the first anniversary of my open heart surgery AND the first day of the Jewish New Year, it’s just right to share this photo:

Yesterday, it was just right to discuss ‘Just Right” at a just-right therapy group.  It’s just right that I  share what I wrote about “Just Right” in that group.

It’s just right for me to show you my other photos from yesterday.

 

Are any of those photos just right for you?

My friend Dave, whom I met at just right Berklee School of Music in 1969 and whom I just recently reconnected with, has just right musical taste. He recommended I just listen to Jacob Collier, who is a just amazing singer, musician, arranger, etc.  I think this song is just right for today’s post.

It would be just right if you left a comment, below.

Just right thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and to you — of course! — for being just right, exactly how you are.