After the Democrat debate last night — which included a lot of words, presidential candidates, and interruptions — I’m wondering what words stand out for you?
What words stand out for you in my photos from yesterday?
My son’s friend Leo (who wrote some stand-out words in this blog post) thinks I’ll stand out if my Fringe poster includes words about my credentials. I’m still not sure whether I’ll include those words.
When I search YouTube for “What words stand out for you?” this comes up first …
… and so are all these other things I photographed recently, including Michael making a hot tub disappear.
Michael, who really doesn’t like tilapia, magically transformed that fish into something even he totally liked last night. The magic ingredients included coconut, ginger, cream, and mango.
I believe that magic is totally real because I’ll be doing a show at the Edinburgh Fringe on August 19. Here’s the totally real front and back of my flyer:
Here is what I magically find on YouTube when I totally search for “Magic is totally real”:
I’m really looking forward to the magic you totally create in the comments section, below.
My gratitude is totally real, so thanks to all who helped me magically create today’s daily blog post and — of course! — to YOU, for being totally here, before you disappear.
Rainbows were on my mind, yesterday, and I never quit seeing them, everywhere.
There were lots of people waiting to pose with that poster of Randy Rainbow after last night’s sold-out show. Thanks to my wonderful niece, Laura, for taking that colorful photo.
Yesterday, after spending time with a wise girl in her 70s who just won’t quit and who recently received a new diagnosis of a chronic illness, I saw this:
The girl writing this blog will never quit
appreciating others,
observing,
stopping to smell the flowers,
healing,
hoping,
loving,
connecting,
renewing,
revealing,
looking for the beauty in every moment,
knowing that life is good,
putting herself out there,
believing in the power of groups, and
taking pictures.
Those last three photos show my boyfriend who won’t quit until he dismantles and gets rid of that hot tub.
Some of you think you are woefully under-prepared. Some of you think you’ve got it in the bag. Some of you might be right, but I can’t say which.
I have the right to think I am woefully under-prepared for my Free Fringe Show (Group “Therapy” with Ann) AND that I’ve got it in the bag, all in the space of one day.
I have the right to be thinking about rights, here and now, since in yesterday’s two Coping and Healing groups we took turns choosing from The Bowl of Rights:
I have the right to appreciate all the personal rights that were chosen in yesterday’s group, including the two pictured above. I don’t know if it’s right to use The Bowl of Rights in my Edinburgh Fringe show, but if I do, it’s only right that I use a better bowl.
I have the right to share my other photos from yesterday.
I had the right yesterday to dub the white board in the group room “B.O.I”. — which stands for Board Of Importance. I’m not going to have a Board of Importance in Edinburgh to list the important themes that get shared during my show, which may or may not contribute to whether my show will fail or succeed.
I have the right to share these other important words from that Free Fringe email:
We all get different things out of the fringe, but if you’re looking to get rich or famous you will be disappointed. The best way to approach it is as an experience. If you treat your co-performers and your venue with respect, you will have it returned, and consequently enjoy that experience more.
I have the right to all my feelings (including excitement, disappointment, fear, hope, and joy) and so do you.
1986 13th Commonwealth Games open in Edinburgh, Scotland
Yesterday, my day in the life included work that I love, meeting up with my old friend Isaac, an incredible Mexican lasagna made by Michael, and many facial expressions.
Yesterday, a good friend chose to send me this good thing to focus on:
It’s a good thing that soolooka created that, so that Vivian could send it to me exactly when I needed it.
Let’s choose to focus on good things in my photos from yesterday:
I chose to focus on that donkey last night during a good long walk with Michael and Aaron. I chose to focus on its expression and to share that the good donkey looked a little judgmental to me. My good boyfriend and my good son chose to disagree.
I choose to focus on this: civil disagreement is a good thing.
Choose to focus on good things in a comment, below.
I always choose to focus on gratitude at the end of every post, so thanks to all who helped me focus on the good things here and — of course! — to you, my good reader.
After almost seven years of blogging daily about the healing power of community, I discover, here and now, that I have never, ever titled a post “Community” before.
COMMUNITY noun, often attributive
com·mu·ni·ty | \ kə-ˈmyü-nə-tē \
plural communities
Definition of community
1 : a unified body of individuals: such as
a : the people with common interests living in a particular area
broadly : the area itself
the problems of a large community
b : a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society
a community of retired persons
a monastic community
c : a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society
the academic community
the scientific community
d : a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests
the international community
e : a group linked by a common policy
f : an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (such as species) in a common location
g : STATE, COMMONWEALTH
2a : a social state or condition
The school encourages a sense of community in its students.
b : joint ownership or participation
community of goods
c : common character : LIKENESS
community of interests
d : social activity : FELLOWSHIP
3 : society at large
the interests of the community
When I look at news stories from the world community, I do not find a focus on community, Instead, I see divisiveness, “other”-ing, and antonyms of community like inequality, conflict, polarity, incompatibility, incongruence, disproportion, imbalance, disagreement, discrepancy, disparity, dissimilarity, unlikeness, forlornness, and loneliness.
Do you see community in my photos from yesterday ?
Don Henley, who used to be in a community of Eagles, has created several songs about community, including this one …
I look forward to hearing from my community of readers.
No matter what community I’m in, I’m always looking for expressions of gratitude. Thanks to the community of people who helped me create this post and — of course! — thanks to YOU.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 