Day 2907: Widespread

When you see the word “widespread,” what first comes to mind?

My answer is “pandemic,” because COVID-19 is widespread, here and now, everywhere on this planet.

Because the pandemic is widespread, there’s widespread fear, worry, confusion, anger, grief, helplessness, denial, illness, and death.

As vaccines become widespread, there’s also fear, worry, confusion, many other feelings, AND, at last, hope.

In case there’s widespread wonder about where the word “widespread” came from today, here is the Daily Bitch Calendar for December 16, 2020.

You don’t want to be in an area of widespread incompetence and general lack of concern during a pandemic, but that’s exactly where I am. However, widespread competence and caring are waiting in the wings (including the West Wing).

My travels are NOT widespread these days, so here are all my other recent images:

If I eat too much of Michael’s delicious cooking and that very rich ice cream, my body will be more widespread.

Here’s Widespread Panic with “Up All Night.”

Widespread Panic is a band from Georgia, USA, and there is widespread interest in the two senate races there. If Democrats win both of those races, cooperation within the U.S. government will be more widespread.

I have widespread acceptance for any thoughts or feelings you have in reaction to this “Widespread” post.

Widespread thanks to all who help me create this widespread blog, including YOU!

Day 2904: A moment for empathy

When I took a moment this morning for considering the topic of today’s blog post, I remembered a moment for empathy evoked by George Takei in his recent Twitter thread, as follows:

Speaking for myself and other empathic people I encounter in my groups and elsewhere, many of us are struggling to find our usual moments for empathy. People feel so angry, exhausted, frightened, anxious, sad, lost, isolated, helpless, and/or betrayed, that we need to re-commit, over and over again, to moments for empathy.

Are there moments for empathy in my recent photos?

Honk if you can find a moment for empathy among all the bullshit.

Here is George Takei finding many moments for empathy in his TED talk “Why I love a country that once betrayed me.”

Here’s one comment in response to George Takei’s momentous, empathic talk:

Patriotism is supporting your county all the time and your government when it deserves it.

— Mark Twain

Let’s take a moment for another comment about George Takei’s moments for empathy:

I’m a pretty jaded guy. not much get to me. but man that story hit me right in the feels.

I am so grateful for people who can find a moment for empathy, here and now, including YOU.

Day 2902: What are people thinking?

“What are people thinking?” is something I often ask in my Coping and Healing groups.

“What are people thinking?” is also something I am increasingly asking myself as I look at the news these days.

What are people thinking on Twitter recently?

What are people thinking about the photos I took yesterday?

When I search YouTube for “What are people thinking?” many of the videos focus on what rich people are thinking, which, to my way of thinking, explains a lot. Personally, I don’t care what rich people are thinking. I think people think about rich people way too much.

Here is “The Dangers of Thinking Too Much; And Thinking Too Little” (and what were people thinking punctuating that title like that?)

Here is what one person is thinking about that video:

I think that sometimes I may think too much about thinking too much.. I think.

What are people thinking about “Think” by Aretha Franklin?

What are people thinking about gratitude, here and now ?

Day 2897: Sights we hate

Yesterday, I posted Day 2896: Sounds we hate, so it’s time to turn our sights to sights we hate.

These days, I hate the sight of

• injustice,
• denial,
• people not wearing masks,
• people wearing masks BELOW THEIR NOSES,
• large gatherings,
• mass hysteria,
• ignorance,
• criminals,
• enablers,
• cruelty,
• deception,
• poverty,
• greed,
• the destruction of our environment,
• wasteful paper mail, and
• hatred.

Are there any sights we hate in these recent sights I saw?

.

.

Rather than focus more on sights we hate, here are “Satisfying Sights That Will Help You Relax” from ZORRO.

Sights I love include comments from you, so please leave one, below.

Ready for the sight of gratitude from me?

Day 2880: Hands

Yesterday, when the wonderful hands of Mia from MiAlisa Salon were giving me a hands-down fabulous haircut, Mia told me about a beautiful way she has been self-soothing during these hard times. She holds her own hand.

Mia said that she held and held her mother’s hand in her hand while her mother was dying, and she misses her mother. Now, when she clasps her own two hands together, she feels powerfully comforted, settled, and anchored. Mia said holding hands with herself also helps her fall asleep.

I told Mia that I have been encouraging people in my Coping and Healing groups to give themselves hugs and that I will add clasping their own hands to the self-soothing repertoire.

And I am happy to report, this morning, that holding hands with myself helped me sleep through the night for the first time in months!

My sleep is also being helped by the growing certainty that my country will soon be in better hands. For the past four years, the USA has been in the hands of a toxic narcissist.

Speaking of hands, if anyone wants to see me play the ukulele with my own hands tomorrow evening, please sign up to be in the audience before the end of the day today using this link:

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/9040b4eadaa23a2f49-jamn15

As people continue to count ballots by hand, I’ll be singing “The Impossible Wait” to the tune of “The Impossible Dream.”

I took all of these photos using my hands. Can you spot the hands of Mia and my husband Michael?

Here is “Hands — A Song for Orlando” from four years ago, showing how hands can hurt and heal.

If you leave a comment with your hands, I will respond with my hands and my heart.

In this time of social distancing, please wash your hands and wear a mask. My hands go out to yours in gratitude, here and now.

Day 2878: Vigilant

As we enter a cold, dark season of illness and political uncertainties ahead, I feel the need to be vigilant.

I am vigilant about

• the health of those I love,
• my own health,
• other people’s anger and tendencies towards violence,
• ignorance,
• denial,
• misunderstandings,
• mistakes,
• money,
• lies, and
• systemic injustices.

I assume I am not alone in feeling vigilant. I’m just trying to figure out how to turn off my vigilant mind at night so I can get more sleep! It’s difficult to be vigilant when you’re exhausted.

I took these photos yesterday while I was being vigilant (and if you’re vigilant you might spot my son Aaron in one of them):

We need to be vigilant, every moment of our lives, to be what we ought to be AND to keep our refrigerators clear of old condiments.

I definitely need some sort of break from all this vigilance.

My vigilant and diligent husband Michael recently introduced me to this wonderful song — “Little Tornado” by Aimee Mann.

I will be vigilant as I look out for your comments, below.

Vigilant thanks to Aimee Mann, Aaron, Michael, Harley, the Daily Bitch, and all those who help me remain vigilant about blogging daily, including YOU.

Day 2876: What you didn’t get

At the end of my Coping and Healing groups, I invite people to think about what they didn’t get, because

• nobody gets all their needs met in a group therapy session,
• if they identify what they didn’t get, they can think about where else they might get those needs met (perhaps in a future Coping and Healing group, perhaps elsewhere),
• that’s my way of letting them know that all of their feelings, including disappointment, are welcome, and
• identifying what you didn’t get (along with identifying what you DID get) are important parts of getting closure, which allows you to move more smoothly to what’s next.

Whenever there is an election or any other major transitioning point, people don’t get all their needs met. As we can see in the news, reactions to that include

• anger,
• fear,
• joy,
• sadness,
• hope,
• disappointment, and
• denial.

Here’s what I didn’t get from the recent USA election: any indication that the twin threats of the coronavirus and the economic recession will be addressed effectively before the end of the year. I also didn’t get the answer to which party will control the Senate. What I DID get was relief about changes in leadership ahead.

What you haven’t gotten in this post, so far, are my photos from yesterday.

What Harley didn’t get yesterday was all the food he wanted. He seems okay with that, though.

Here’s a recent performance of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones.

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might get what you need (and I need your comments about this what-you-didn’t-get post).

What you do get here is gratitude, so thanks to all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.

Day 2873: Panic attacks

If you have panic attacks, you are not alone, as you can see by today’s Daily Bitch Calendar.

When people have panic attacks, they often share them with me, because I’m a group and individual therapist. When my husband Michael and I have panic attacks, we share them with each other. Luckily, Michael and I often have panic attacks on alternating days — when he’s panicking I’m usually feeling calm and hopeful and when I’m panicking he’s usually feeling hopeful and calm.

To reduce panic attacks, I breathe, blog, take long walks (masked!) , listen to music, read books, watch funny movies and videos, spend time with calming creatures, search for meaning (on the internet and elsewhere), eat delicious nutritious food, dwell on hope, and take photos.

I’m happy to report that for now, thanks to the kindness of strangers, family, and friends, I’ve stopped having panic attacks about

• uploading my photos to WordPress,
• using the new text editor,
• my internet connection, and
• the future.

Here’s “Hyperactive!” by Thomas Dolby, complete with panic attacks:

That reminds me … To reduce panic attacks over the upcoming dark and scary months, I’ll be working on something called Therapy: The Musical. Stay tuned.

Reducing panic attacks includes sharing thoughts and feelings, so I hope you share in a comment below.

Also, gratitude attacks beat out panic attacks, so thanks to all who help me attack a new blog post every day, including YOU.

Day 2872: What we dwell on

Yesterday, when I was dwelling on Donald Trump, Donald Trump’s supporters, and angry people, I found this quote by Oprah Winfrey:

Oh no! Oprah knows for sure that I will become Donald Trump, a Donald Trump supporter, and/or an angry person unless I dwell on something else. Luckily, there are many other things to dwell on in my other photos from yesterday.

Uh-oh. Now I’m dwelling on the fact that we just lost our internet connection. Also, it’s taking forever for me to upload any more photos that are dwelling on my phone by using cellular data.

Now I’m dwelling on the possibility that if Donald Trump, Donald Trump supporters, and angry people want to take over my country with a coup, knocking out the internet of people dwelling in liberal parts of the USA is probably a great way to do that.

Now I’m dwelling on this: a coup in the USA is highly unlikely. Also, the photo I am trying to upload in this precious moment says “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.”

Rather than dwelling on worry, I choose to dwell on

• hope,
• quotes from wise people,
• people I love,
• people I trust,
• cats,
• dogs,
• the ocean,
• things that make me think,
• things that make me feel,
• things that make me laugh,
• delicious nutritious food,
• my health and the health of others,
• staying safe,
• music, and
• taking a walk on a beautiful morning.

Therefore, I am going to take a masked walk on this beautiful morning after sharing this one other photo which uploaded successfully:

Dwell on this: In 2019 I bet people cookies that Donald Trump would not win re-election. That box of Mallomars is part of my winnings, with more cookies on the way.

Because it helps me to dwell on music, I’m going to search YouTube for music that dwells there, as I peacefully accept that I can always share my other temporarily unload-able photos tomorrow.

Strangely enough, when I search YouTube for “what we dwell on”, I find another Game of Thrones video.

Now I’m dwelling on synchronicity and gratitude for all who help me dwell on blogging every day, including YOU!

Day 2871: Winter is coming

Winter is coming and there are many cold days ahead.

Can you tell that winter is coming from these images, captured after I was sleepless near Boston?

Winter is coming, so it might be time to stock up on lox, locks, and luck.

Here‘s a “”Winter is Coming” compilation from Game of Thrones:

Here‘s “Winter is Coming” music from Game of Thrones, composed by Ramin Djawadi:

Here’s a comment posted on YouTube about that music, from three weeks ago:

Straywolf – 77 Elections are coming…then its consequences…then winter. As Ned Stark said, “Brace yourselves…”

Winter is coming and so are some comments, below.

Now gratitude is coming for all who help me blog daily through winter, spring, summer, and fall, including YOU!