Day 2434: Permission

I hope I have my readers’s permission to start this post with a definition:

per·mis·sion
/pərˈmiSHən/
noun
consent; authorization.
“they had entered the country without permission”
synonyms: authorization, consent, leave, authority, sanction, license, dispensation, assent, acquiescence, agreement, approval, seal of approval, approbation, endorsement, blessing, imprimatur, clearance, acceptance, allowance, tolerance, sufferance, empowerment, freedom, liberty
an official document giving authorization.
plural noun: permissions
“permissions to reproduce copyright material”

I hope I have your permission to wonder this about that definition: Why are so many people so focused on others entering countries without permission? Is that REALLY the worst problem the world is facing?  Aren’t there other problems we should be erasing?

With or without permission, I’m going to state my position:  we are all occupants of this planet, dammit!  Why can’t we all come and go as we please, with more ease?

I know that if I were running for office in my home country with an attitude like that one, my quest for election would definitely be soon done.

Here’s my admission about why I’m focusing on permission:

I took that photo without anybody’s permission.    That was my decision.

Here are some quotes about permission, in addition:

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“When you give yourself permission to communicate what matters to you in every situation you will have peace despite rejection or disapproval. Putting a voice to your soul helps you to let go of the negative energy of fear and regret.”
― Shannon L. Alder

“A strong gives forgiveness but weak gives permission.”
― Santosh Kalwar, Quote Me Everyday

“The more people you have to ask for permission, the more dangerous a project gets.”
― Alain de Botton

“When people change they do not ask your permission.”
― Jennifer Pierre

“Quiet the noise around you; soften its pitch. Our deepest stories are our best teachers. Let the weapons of the weak — the poison, the nagging, the gossip — burn themselves to ash. Cast them to the wind. Take back the permission to succeed. Make it yours.”
― Elissa Altman

“Stop looking for permission from other people to do what you know you are meant to do.”
― Adam Smith

“Do you really need permission? Still waiting for that invitation to your life? No one is going to give it to you…only you can do that.”
― Jennifer Ho-Dougatz

“When we give ourselves permission to go wherever our outlandish thoughts take us, we feel that rush of creativity and excitement.”
― Teresa R. Funke, Bursts of Brilliance for a Creative Life blog

Without a permit, here are other photos I’ll submit:

You can give yourself permission, my dear,  to let go of future fear. Make a magic incantation without any hesitation.

Who gave me the permission to rhyme all this time?  It’s inspired  by listening to a rap musical sublime.

Whether Clark on Stage got permission to do this cover I don’t know. I’m still grateful that he gave it a go.

Whenever there’s a lot a stake, give yourself permission to take a break.

No matter what your position, you don’t need  permission to make a comment submission.

Thanks to all who help me create, including my readers, who are GREAT.

Day 2433: Daily Tasks

One my favorite daily tasks is creating this daily blog.  That helps me face all my other daily tasks, no matter what I’m in the mood for. My daily blogging tasks include sharing my photos from yesterday:

 

What’s on your list of daily tasks?

My tasks today include

• getting ready for work,
• driving to a parking lot near Boston’s Fenway Park,
• pronouncing “Park” unlike a native Bostonian,
• walking the mile to the hospital where I work,
• being on “Quick Response” for the doctors and patients of  the Primary Care Practice at the hospital,
• eating the right amount of greens to maintain a good INR level,
• ordering a half-portion of the best hospital macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had in my life,
• facilitating a “Coping and Healing” group,
• doing individual therapy, and
• enjoying the start of a long weekend.

Tomorrow, my tasks include

• doing individual therapy,
• taking my car in to be serviced,
• looking for comfortable, affordable, and spectacular-enough clothes for my 45th college reunion, and
• enjoying the long weekend.

Here‘s “Relaxing Concentration Music — designed to help you work, study, and focus on your task.”

 

Perhaps that music will help you focus on the task of leaving a comment, below.

Another one of my daily tasks is finding gratitude and sharing it with you.

Thanks to all the people who help me with my daily tasks and thanks — of course! — to my wonderful readers, including YOU.

 

Day 2432: What are you in the mood for?

What are you in the mood for, here and now?

Welcoming messages?

Smiles?

Validation?

Reality?

Being a follower?

Cats?

Flowers?

Food?

Mindfulness?

Are you in the mood for the rest of my photos from yesterday?

Are you in the mood for “In the Mood?”

As always, I’m in the mood for your comments.

I hope you’re in the mood for my gratitude!

Day 2431: Everything

After almost seven years of daily blogging here at The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally, I sometimes wonder if I’ve written about everything.

Fortunately, there are  always more everythings, every day, to notice and share.

This blog is everything to me, so I’m planning on including it in my five-minute “Ted Talk” about Picking up the Pieces at my upcoming 45th college reunion.

Here’s what I wrote about that, this morning:

So as I tell my story to you today, I wonder, perhaps along with you,
what has allowed me to survive, so intact, through all these years of
uncertainty and crisis? What has helped me pick up the pieces, over
and over again? As when I was a child — the love of my family and
friends sustain me. Also, about seven years ago I expanded my
network of friends by starting a daily blog. Every morning, including
today, I write about my heart, my son, my boyfriend, my work,, my
passion for the healing power of groups, my music, my cats, my
hopes, my fears, — whatever helps gird and prepare me for the day
ahead. The day after my heart valve replacement surgery is the only
day I needed a substitute blogger — my boyfriend Michael let my
thousands of readers know I had survived the complicated surgery.
The comments from my readers that day included “This is the best
news that I could receive!” “She’s going to be alright guys’ is the best
line ever!”
As I know with my work with groups, community is essential for
survival. Perhaps because of all the traumas I’ve been through, I need
a bigger group than most to keep me going. Thanks for being part of
my group, today.

I’ve written several drafts to make sure that talk is everything to me and to my listeners at the reunion.  I hope everything, above, will make it to my final speech. I’ll keep you posted about that and everything else.

Here’s everything I photographed yesterday:

Michael’s meals are everything.

Here‘s an “Everything” song:

 

I look forward to everything you choose to share in a comment, below.

Thanks to all for everything!

 

Day 2430: What would you like the power to do?

Yesterday, when I had the power to return to my work as a group therapist at a powerful Boston hospital, I saw this sign:

I would like the power to:

• reverse climate change,
• increase the love in the world,
• return the missing to their loved ones,
• fight for what I believe in,
• change many of the world’s leaders,
• offer support to all who need it, and
• stop myself and others from unhealthy patterns of thoughts and behaviors.

I don’t think I have the power to do all that, but I do have the power to share my other photos from yesterday:

 

 

What would you like the power to do, my lovely readers?

I also have the power to share this song:

You have the power to comment and I have the power to respond.

I also have the power to express my gratitude for those who help me create these daily blog posts and for my powerful readers, including YOU.

 

Day 2429: Note to self

Note to self: go back to work today after an incredible trip to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Note to self: write notes for …

• my latest original song “Spoiler Alert.” and
• my “Ted Talk” for my college reunion in September, including important information about my self (e.g., my very unusual heart and how the notes in this blog help my  self get through the challenging times).

Note to self: share some new photos from yesterday, which I took myself.

Note to self: Halloween and Thanksgiving are actually several months away.

Note to self: Share Class Notes: A Journey Through Musical Emotion.

Notes to self:

• Practice acceptance of all feelings.
• If you feel overwhelmed by too much to do, take one step at a time.

If you want to leave a note to me, yourself, and others, see the comments section below.

Note to self:  express  gratitude and thanks for all the selves who help me create these daily posts and for those who read them, including yourself!

Day 2428: Spoiler Alert!

Spoiler alert!

I’m working on a new original song, called “Spoiler Alert!”

Spoiler alert! If you don’t want to know any of the lyrics before I finish writing “Spoiler Alert!”  please leave this post immediately or scroll down rapidly past this following section:

Spoiler Alert!

by Ann Koplow

I hear a lot of people avoiding spoilers,

They want to be surprised, their future disguised, they’ve said.

Those who reveal what’s coming for real are annoyers.

They don’t want to know, so please do not show what’s ahead.

I’m going to say I’ll be giving away future happenings.

If that’s your pet peeve, you have the option to leave any time.

Spoiler alert!

You’ll encounter things that definitely will hurt.

You’ll be afraid of losing your shirt.

Some foolish words you’re going to blurt.

Spoiler alert!

Nice people will sometimes be curt.

Someone you love will treat you like dirt.

You’ll eat too much of a fattening dessert.

You may have encountered some of these spoilers already.

Since that’s probably the case, I’ll continue my pace to reveal

Future things to occur, I’m reasonably sure and steady,

More spoiler alerts — not all of them hurts —  now coming your way.

Spoilers from me!

You’ll get something unexpected for free.

Cats and kites will get stuck up in a tree

You’ll see something that you’re happy to see.

(to be continued)

©Ann Koplow, 2019

 

Spoiler alert!  I want to finish that song before the first Friday in September, when I’ll be singing at my usual Open Mic in Arlington, Massachusetts. If I don’t make it, here’s another spoiler: I’ll be alert enough to sing another one of my original songs.

Spoiler alert! One of my photos from yesterday inspired one of those lines in “Spoiler Alert.” Are you alert enough to find it?

 

Spoiler alert!   There’s already a song titled “Spoiler Alert” by the incredible band They Might be Giants:

 

Spoiler alert!  Here are many thanks coming your way (and please don’t be afraid of being spoiled by my gratitude).

 

 

 

Day 2427: Incredible

Honestly, my incredible readers, it’s incredible to me that I have never before published a post titled “Incredible”  in all the two thousand, four hundred, and thirty-six incredible days I’ve been blogging.

Yesterday, on my travel day back from incredible Edinburgh to incredible Boston, I saw these two incredible signs:

I had an incredible time at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (described in incredible detail here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).  Here are some of the incredible highlights:

• Spending time with my son, Aaron Fairbanks.
• Attending Aaron’s and Tom Joyce’s Fringe show The Mail Room.
• The Greatest Theatrical Event …in this place at this time for this price … EVER!
• Vincent Van Gogh Find Yourself.
• Ransacked Black Oven and Cafe Grande (for incredible food).
• Getting to do my own show at the Edinburgh Fringe three incredible times and receiving this incredible feedback from people who attended:

“Lovely group experience! Great to feel included during the Fringe, and to feel heard.”

“Enjoyed feeling comfortable with a group of strangers.  Thank you.”

“Great, very interesting, and unique.”

“The show should be longer.  Also be my therapist please.”

“You need some more time for your show, but I really liked your idea of making a show of this. It was like a calm moment in the middle of the Fringe chaos.  Fringe = outside.  Ann show = inside.”

“Created a safe and relaxed space to feel open to express myself.”

“More shows like this.”

“A welcome sharing space well interspersed with activities and songs to make everyone feel included. Thanks.”

“I would 1000% recommend this since it is truly something different from anything else on offer at the Fringe. I feel a lot happier after the show and had some big revelations.”

Here are my latest photos, which I took when I was feeling incredible:

It’s always incredible to be home.

It’s incredible to me,  here and now, that I can’t share the incredible Tom Joyce’s portion of The Mail Room which I recorded on my iPhone during my incredible Wednesday at the incredible 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.  I think it’s credible that I’ll be able to add that recording to this post after I publish it.

Here is the incredibly kind and talented Tom Joyce in The Mail Room:

I look forward to your incredible comments, below.

Incredible thanks to all  who help me create these posts and also to my incredible readers, including YOU.

Day 2426: Expanding the View

On my way to Edinburgh Airport to catch my fight back to Boston, I expanded my view to notice this:

After attending the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for seven years with my son (who is now a student at University of Edinburgh and a well-established local comedian), I would say that the Edinburgh Fringe is all about expanding the view.

This year, my view was expanded by doing my own Fringe Show — Group “Therapy” with Ann — and also attending The Mail Room, the Fringe show my son shared with one of our long-time favorite comedians, Tom Joyce. Tom expanded my already favorable view of him by showing up yesterday, unasked, to help me expand the audience for my two shows yesterday by passing out flyers outside the venue.

Which ones of the many other photos in this post are expanding the view?

Expanding your time spent with this post, I will tell you that ONE of those views is NOT from Edinburgh, but rather from back home in Boston. If you can guess which one, that will expand my view of you.

Soon I’ll be expanding my view on a plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean. As usual, my gratitude for all who help me create and who read my posts is expanding. Here’s today’s final view:

Day 2425: Here we go again!!

Yesterday morning, after publishing Day 2424: Missing, I heard that I am going to get another go at performing my Fringe show Group “Therapy” with Ann.

Here I go again, doing two groups on a Thursday, which is how it goes for me back home at work in Boston.

It may seem like a risk to do two shows in one day with very little time to convince people to attend my show — among the thousands of shows and performances at Scotland’s Festival Fringe — but here we go again!!

When I go again today, I may sing different songs, like “I Left The House Before I Felt Ready” or “Hidden Thoughts.” Here I go again, having trouble making decisions. If necessary, I can always go again to the “coin flip” app on my phone.

Here we go again — with the rest of my photos from yesterday.

Here at the Bar Bados Fringe venue last night, my son, Aaron Fairbanks (a/k/a as “The Jail Mailman”) and one of our long-time favorite comedians, Tom Joyce, did their show — The Mail Room — again.

Here we go again with a video that Aaron’s proud mother recorded at last night’s performance of “The Mail Room.”

Here I go again, apologizing for the mistakes I made recording that. Here I go again, letting go of worry, perfectionism, fear, and self-judgment before my two performances today.

Here we go again with yet another request for comments, below.

Here we go again with gratitude, for all who help me go again, every day!!!