Day 3397: What I have to do today

Last night, when my husband Michael asked me what I have to do today, I replied with glee, “NOTHING!”

That’s not entirely true. I have to

• take my medication,
• blog,
• call Chewy.com about why they cancelled our autoship of Yesterday’s News cat litter, and
• tweet twice on Twitter,

but I’m completely okay with all of that.

I’m noticing there are A LOT of National Days (one of the daily tweets I have to do) for April 30, but I don’t have to do any of them.

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I don’t have to take a walk and capture images today but I probably will.

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The Daily Bitch doesn’t have to do that but it sure sounds like fun!

I don’t have to do this, but I’m sharing “The Day Off” from Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George.

What do you have to do today?

I have to conclude this post with thanks to all who help me blog every day, including YOU!

Day 3396: Naming It

I’m naming it, here and now, that I’ve written previous blog posts named “naming it” because naming it is a helpful coping strategy.

Earlier this week, people in therapy named how naming your feelings — including grief, anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger — can help you deal with those feelings. And I recently read an article, which I can’t name right now, that cited scientific proof that naming feelings can help relieve them.

Can you name any examples of naming it in my images for today?

I’m naming that (1) The Daily Bitch Calendar is a great name for my favorite calendar and (2) there are many National Hairball Awareness Days around here.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “naming it.”

At the end of each post, I name my thanks for all the people who help me blog every day, and your name is on that gratitude list!

Day 3395: Confusion

Last night, assuming that I’m not alone in my confusion, I asked this question on Twitter (with the help of the Daily Bitch calendar):

There seems to be a lot of confusion on Twitter about its future, because of Elon Musk.

This morning, I searched for quotes about confusion and found these:

I hope all those quotes about confusion aren’t too confusing.

I captured these images yesterday in the midst of my confusion about (1) the best way to move forward with our needed home repairs and (2) the state of the world.

In order to celebrate Great Poetry Reading Day, I searched for a great poem about confusion and found Garbageman: The Man With The Orderly Mind by Gwendolyn Brooks.

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Here’s Gwendolyn Brooks reading her poetry, including Garbageman: The Man With The Orderly Mind:

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For regular readers of this blog, there’s no confusion how I will end this post: with gratitude.

Day 3394: Introductions

When introducing somebody new into my Coping and Healing therapy groups, I ask the other people to remember how it felt when they were new to the group. I also ask, when introducing the check-in, how people would choose to introduce themselves.

Meeting new people can be anxiety-producing and introductions can help ease the anxiety.

Do you see introductions in my images for today?

I think telling a story is a good way to make an introduction. Also, here’s a way I could introduce myself, “Hello, my name is Ann Koplow, and my first car was a blue Gremlin with a denim interior.”

Here’s what I find when I search for “introductions” on YouTube.

I look forward to reading whatever people introduce in the comments, below.

Thanks to all who help me with these daily introductions, including YOU.

Day 3393: Wanna bet?

Over the years, I’ve won cookies and cash by saying “wanna bet?” at propitious times.

When my son Aaron was very young, I said “wanna bet?” to somebody who was very sure about who was playing a jazz tune featured on a local radio station. Aaron tried to warn this person by saying, “Don’t bet with Mama.” However, this guy was so certain that he ignored Aaron and bet me $20.

When he paid up, he delivered the $20 in a beautiful frame that included the legend “Don’t bet with Mama.”

I bet that framed $20 is in a box in the basement right now.

Last night, Aaron, my husband Michael, and I were watching The Great Pottery Throwdown and we were discussing who we thought might be going home. When I looked at what people were planning on making (I’ll bet you wouldn’t guess they had to make urinals, but they did), I got a very strong feeling that one of the best potters was miscalculating her strategy and I said I thought she’d be gone at the end of the episode. Perhaps because I know almost nothing about pottery, Michael strongly disagreed.

I said, “Wanna bet?”

Aaron was concerned I’d be breaking my long streak of successful bets, but I don’t want successes to get in the way of taking risks with potentially big payoffs.

Michael proposed $20 for our bet and we watched the show. It looked very bad for me when the potter in question WON the secondary challenge, but when her urinal leaked, I knew I had won again.

I bet that $20 is in my wallet, right now.

Wanna bet that there will be something about bets in my images for today?

Wanna bet what I’m going to be celebrating today?

This is what I find on YouTube when I search for “wanna bet?”

Wanna bet that there will be lots of gratitude at the end of this post for everyone who helps me blog every day, including you?

Day 3392: Finding the joy

Because of all the pain and suffering in our world, finding the joy takes a recommitment to do so, every day.

This morning, I’m finding the joy in these images.

I’m going to be finding the joy on National Telephone Day, conducting therapy sessions by phone and in person at the hospital.

Before I try my best finding the joy in Boston traffic, I am joyful to share that I met my goal yesterday of recording a better version of my original song “I Left the House Before I Felt Ready.”

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Thanks to all who help me in finding the joy every day, including YOU.

Day 3392: Finding the joy

Because of all the pain and suffering in our world, finding the joy takes a recommitment to do so, every day.

This morning, I’m finding the joy in these images.

I’m going to be finding the joy on National Telephone Day, conducting therapy sessions by phone and in person at the hospital.

Before I try my best finding the joy in Boston traffic, I am joyful to share that I met my goal yesterday of recording a better version of my original song “I Left the House Before I Felt Ready.”

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Thanks to all who help me in finding the joy every day, including YOU.

Day 3391: The creative process

Here and now, I’m trying to overcome some self-consciousness about moving forward with the creative process regarding my original songs.

Before the pandemic, I unexpectedly and joyfully experienced months where my creative process produced many original songs, which I performed at Open Mics and featured in this daily blog.

My manager — a fabulous human being whom I helped create 24 years ago — thinks I should create recordings of my best songs with excellent sound quality and feature them prominently on my YouTube channel.

For some reason, which I can’t quite process, I’ve been avoiding following my son Aaron’s wise advice, focusing instead on the creative process in my therapy groups and on social media.

Part of the creative process, for me, is naming and (sometimes) sharing the obstacles, so I’m hoping that creating this blog post will help me move forward with my original songs. Today, I plan to record a great version of “I Left the House Before I Felt Ready.”

Do you see the creative process in my images for today?

I did NOT create National Pigs in a Blanket Day nor National Pet Parents Day, but I am a proud pet parent to Joan …

… and Harley.

Here’s a video I created at the Sheep Shearing Festival yesterday, which my son Aaron is going to send to his girlfriend overseas:

I hope to create a video of “I Left the House Before I Felt Ready” with better sound quality than that, today.

What are your thoughts and feelings about the creative process?

Gratitude for what I have is part of my creative process, so thanks to all who help me create this blog every day, including YOU.

Day 3390: Self-consciousness

I am conscious of self and others and I’m conscious of how self-consciousness affects us all.

Here are some quotes about self-consciousness:

As I get older, I get less self-conscious, which is wonderful.

Do you see self-consciousness in my other images for today?

Today I am going take a chance and talk like Shakespeare without any self-consciousness.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “self-consciousness”.

I hope you can overcome self-consciousness and leave a comment, below.

I am conscious of my self, here and now, being grateful for all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.

Day 3389: Doodles

Yesterday, in both of my Coping and Healing groups, I asked people to doodle during the mindfulness exercise, either on a drawing surface or in their heads.

Here’s a definition of doodle:

I’m doodling in my mind, right now, about how I asked people to be mindful and absentminded at the same time. Nobody seemed to mind that in the groups yesterday, including someone who likes to call mindfulness “mindlessness.”

For me, mindfulness is about being in the moment, taking a break from fears about the future and regrets about the past. When I was in school, I used to take a break from those by doodling octagons in my notebooks, like these:

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Last night, after a long day of work, I asked this question about doodles on Twitter:

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Do you see any doodles (or things you doodle) in my other images for today?

Someone in a group yesterday said they doodle zentangles and those came up when I searched YouTube for “doodles.”

I look forward to your word doodles in the comments section, below.

As always, I’m going to end this blogdoodle with thanks to all who help me doodle my thoughts and feelings here every day, including YOU.