I share my thoughts and feelings, hoping that also helps you in some way.
This is the place for me to say this: before you step into 2020, be sure to cancel your subscriptions to other people’s drama and negativity, but please do not cancel your subscription to The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally.
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” — Rabindranath Tagore
“I know that I shall meet my fate somewhere among the clouds above; those that I fight I do not hate and those that I guard I do not love.” — William Butler Yeats
” Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.” — St. Augustine
“It is better to have your heads in the clouds and know where you are … than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise.” — Henry David Thoreau
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” — Edward Abbey
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” — John Lubbock
“Clouds do not really look like camels or sailing ships or castles in the sky. They are simply a natural process at work. So too, perhaps, are our lives.” — Roger Ebert
“Mirth is like a flash of lightening, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.” — Joseph Addison
“Let the people on both sides keep their self-possession, and just as other clouds have cleared away in due time, so will this, and this great nation will continue to prosper as before.” — Abraham Lincoln
“I, like everybody else, have a certain fear of heights, and I have to be very careful when I’m in the clouds, but it is also what I love; it is my domain, so when you love something, you don’t have fear.” —Philippe Petit
“Who cares about the clouds when we’re together? Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.” — Dale Evans
Do you see any clouds in these other recent photos?
Here‘s another song that’s hovering in the clouds of this post, above:
If you were to comment on this post, I’d be on Cloud 9.
Now it’s time to end this post in a cloud of gratitude, so thanks and happy trails to all who help me find my way through the clouds to blog every day, including YOU.
“When there’s a bit of uncertainty in the world,” Norton told Mic, “looking for a little bit of order is something humans like to do. It could be by doing a private ritual. It could be by doing a social ritual. Rituals make people feel like they have a handle on things. We know from lots and lots of research that feeling in control is a huge predictor of well-being. People who feel they don’t have some control over outcomes in their lives tend to suffer.”
…
It’s easy to think that rituals like weddings are pointless and overdone. But that big cake, sparkling white dress or bouquet toss are helping us move through life in a positive and healthy way. There’s no need to apologize for embracing it.
People seemed to love our wedding yesterday, even though there was no big cake or sparkling white dress. However, there WAS a bouquet toss.
If you love any of those wedding pictures, you can click on them to enlarge them.
Immediately after the wedding in the City Clerk’s office, Michael loved pretending he was the City Clerk …
… and his brother Martin loved pretending he was exerting some influence in city politics.
I loved that the City Clerk, Nicole Crispo …
… loved those goofy photos of Michael and Martin.
I love everyone who was at our wedding, including my friend Carol …
… who took many more lovely photos of our wedding, which I love. If you love weddings, I’ll include those in a future post (if I can figure out how to get them here).
I love that Aaron’s long-time friend Clark …
… caught the lovely bouquet.
I love that my son Aaron looked so handsome in his tuxedo …
and I love that Michael and Aaron love each other so much.
Do you love weddings enough to watch yesterday’s entire ceremony, taped by Michael’s loving and lovely sister-in-law, Tammy?
Do we agree that I’ve written lots of posts about “We”?
Here’s a short poem titled “We.”
We
by Ann Koplow
“We” is my favorite pronoun.
It’s much better than “I.”
We are taking vows today
Which will last until we die.
Are we ready for my photos from yesterday?
We (Michael and I) love Jane, the realtor who helped us find the home where we are so happy and who sent us a card, flowers, gingerbread cookies, and cookie-decorating materials yesterday to celebrate our wedding, which is today!
We wish you could all be there to celebrate with us, but we’re told that we can bring only twelve people with us to the civil ceremony.
Here‘s the “We” song I choose for today’s “We” post.
We belong together and I am so grateful for you and for us!
That’s what effective, committed, and passionate healers and interventionists like Woody Geismann do — they facilitate people changing the narrative of their life stories for the better. Woody has a lot of experience changing the narrative of his own life — from the drummer of the Boston rock band the Del Fuegos to the founder of Right Turn and also from somebody who had a serious brain aneurysm in 2016 to a person who learned how to walk and talk again.
Do you see evidence of people changing the narrative in these photos?
That’s Cynthia (who as the new CEO of Right Turn is changing the narrative of the program while also preserving and expanding its power) sitting under a painting done by Woody, who changes narratives through music AND art. Cynthia and I had a great talk about how we’ve been changing the narratives of ourselves and others through different careers and through our experiences with different people.
Woody also changed my narrative of the Rolling Stones by telling me this story about them:
Ronnie and Keith were asked which of them was the better guitarist. Ronnie said, “Of course, it’s me!” Keith said, “Neither of us are particularly good guitarists, but together we create something special.” Keith is a very wise person.
I’m probably changing the narrative of Woody’s wonderful story, because I didn’t write down his exact words.
Now I’m changing the narrative of this post by sharing my other photos from yesterday:
Oscar is changing the narrative of who is interested in latkes on Chanukah.
Here’s today’s final example of changing the narrative:
Michael (who makes latkes that are almost as fabulous as my late mother‘s) and I will be changing the narrative of our lives when we get married this Friday.
There are lots of videos about “Changing the Narrative” on YouTube. Here‘s one of them:
That Canadian Beekeeper is changing the narrative by asking for help and support, which we all need to survive.
I like changing the narrative through music, so here is Eliza singing about changing the narrative in “Burn” from the musical Hamilton.
Now, you have the option of changing the narrative of this post by leaving a comment, below.
I’m not changing how I end every narrative in this blog. As always, I end with gratitude to all who helped me share all the narratives in today’s post and — of course! — to you, you, you.
Life is a shared experience and I was very grateful to share it yesterday with Sandra Colman, the proprietor of the fabulous store where I found the perfect earrings for my wedding on Friday.
Beautiful Sandra and I shared experiences of Swampscott, the North Shore, the South Shore, courage, ideas, chances, what we love to do, showing up, problems, marriage, our wandering minds, and our hearts.
Life is a shared experience, and I was grateful to share it yesterday with Bruce and Meryl Manin of Grono & Christie Jewelers of Milton, who had helped me figure out a solution to my problem of a too-large wedding ring.
When you share life experiences with wonderful people, that’s where fairy tales begin.
Life is a shared experience and I love sharing my experiences with you.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 