Do my other photos from yesterday have a little faith?
I have a little faith that when I randomly and intuitively take photos every day, they will somehow fit together in my next blog post.
Have a little faith that Michael’s cooking tastes even better than it looks. When I first met Michael, exactly nine years ago today, I had a little faith that we were meant for each other.
Speaking of anniversaries, yesterday was an anniversary of the big success of “Faith” by George Michael.
I have a little faith that you will leave a comment, below.
Have a little faith that I’ll end this post with gratitude for all, including YOU!
Last night, at Boston’s beautiful Colonial Theater, Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg observed that a synonym used for “candidate” is “hopeful.” Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg then observed how appropriate that was, because a political candidate should have and inspire hope for the future.
I was very hopeful, last night, after listening to Presidential hopeful Buttigieg speak and answer questions from the audience, including a question about what his dogs were wearing for Halloween. I am hopeful I am correct when I report that one of Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg’s dogs is dressing up as an avocado for Halloween.
I am hopeful this clears up any doubts about my memory:
I found that hopeful photo online, after searching for “Buttigieg Halloween avocado.” Presidential hopeful Buttigieg’s dogs — Truman and Buddy Buttigieg — have a twitter account, and hopeful comments in response to that photo included:
Because I had even more resistance to taking photos yesterday than I did the day before, I was floundering about what to call today’s post.
“Floundering” seems right, because:
our leaders are floundering,
our institutions are floundering,
many people tell me they are floundering, and
this is the only photo I took yesterday:
That’s flounder over a peach and ginger flavored coulis with cous cous and al dente vegetables. Michael’s cooking is a good remedy for floundering (although not for the flounder).
Today, I’m going to meet Mayor Pete Buttgieg, who doesn’t seem to be floundering even though he is running a distant fourth to Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders in the polls (and poll results were certainly floundering in our last Presidential election). And speaking of polls, I don’t understand why Cory Booker is floundering with such low polling numbers, either. These days, I’m floundering to make sense of many things.
Apparently I have some resistance to writing about resistance, because when I search for “resistance” in seven years’ worth of daily blogging, these are the posts that appear:
1a : an act or instance of resisting : OPPOSITION
b : a means of resisting
2 : the power or capacity to resist: such as
a : the inherent ability of an organism to resist harmful influences (such as disease, toxic agents, or infection)
b : the capacity of a species or strain of microorganism to survive exposure to a toxic agent (such as a drug) formerly effective against it
3 : an opposing or retarding force
4a : the opposition offered by a body or substance to the passage through it of a steady electric current
b : a source of resistance
5 : a psychological defense mechanism wherein a patient rejects, denies, or otherwise opposes the therapeutic efforts of a psychotherapist
6 often capitalized : an underground organization of a conquered or nearly conquered country engaging in sabotage and secret operations against occupation forces and collaborators
Perhaps I have a resistance to writing about resistance because it can be so exhausting to deal with resistance. When I encounter resistance (definitions #1 and #3 ) that doesn’t make sense to me, it can affect my sleep and perhaps my natural resistance to disease (definition #2).
two retreats about group therapy on Saturday and Sunday.
While looking forward to events in the future can help one feel hope, it can also trigger worry and fears about that future, like “Is this too much?” “Will all these activities next week interfere in my self care?” “Will the absence of the late Walter Becker get in the way of my really enjoying the Steely Dan concert?” “What’s the weather going to be like?” “Am I ready for November?” and “Where the hell am I going to park?”
The cure for future-oriented fears is refocusing on the present moment. And in this moment, I have several new photos to share with you.
To make this my day, my way, I’d like to revisit and clarify one difficult-to-read photo above:
History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.
Have no doubt that I am going to share my photos from yesterday.
Have no doubt that
we all have unconscious biases,
there is a test for unconscious biases (see here),
individual actions may seem insignificant but together the small steps of many people can have astonishing impact,
I wrote the wrong date on the board for yesterday’s Coping and Healing groups,
one of the group members brought in two kinds of home-made pies, and
I promised to share “In The Year 2525” on day 2525 of this blog (which because of a numbering error, I thought was this day). (Have no doubt, everybody makes mistakes, including me.)
Have no doubt — Michael and I totally disagree about that song. One of us has a conscious bias against it and the other one doesn’t.
Have no doubt: I am looking forward to your reactions to today’s blog.
Have no doubt. I end every post trying to express …
Yesterday, somebody who attends my Coping and Healing groups sent me the gift of Self-Care Bingo.
Because my Coping and Healing groups focus on self-care, we played Self-Care Bingo in yesterday’s group. I called “Bingo!” for the up-and-down middle row, because that day I had
talked to a friend,
listened to my body,
stayed alive,
took a break, and
drank water.
Everybody in the group was able to call “Bingo” for an up-and-down, left-to-right, or diagonal row.
I asked the group if they could think about other squares to add to their own personal game of Self-Care Bingo. I might add another row of
listened to music,
hung out with a nice animal,
communed with nature,
blogged, and
took pictures.
I just searched YouTube for “Bingo Supremes” and found this:
How would you play Self-Care Bingo?
Here’s something else I’d add to my personal Self-Care Bingo card:
I don’t want to get too hung up on presenting definitions and synonyms of “hang-up,” so here’s a list of hang ups that preoccupy me and others, these days:
I have a little faith that when I randomly and intuitively take photos every day, they will somehow fit together in my next blog post.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 