Day 2938: Supportive and loving places

Throughout my life, I have looked for — and tried to create — supportive and loving places.

Last night, before I sang my new lyrics for “People are Strange,” I talked about supportive and loving places.

Do you see any supportive and loving places in my photos from yesterday?

Supportive and loving places are created by supportive and loving people and those are two of them: Joe, who is the MC of the Jam’n Java Open Mic, and Nat, who has appeared in this blog here, here, here, here, and here.

Nat sent me these supportive and loving messages after my performance:

Nat: So much fun!!! Sooooo on point. Some governmental agency should pay you to use that as a public safety announcement.

Me: You should be my manager!

Nat: Easiest management gig ever – your awesomeness promotes itself! You should put that on YouTube at least.

Me: I will!

And I did.

What are your supportive and loving places?

Gratitude and appreciation create supportive and loving places, so thanks to everyone, including YOU!!!

Day 2895: Ways to cope with people who drive you mad

I don’t know about you, but people are driving me mad these days, including:

• anti-maskers,
• election deniers,
• conspiracy theorists,
• white supremacists,
• all who abuse power, and
• many others too numerous to mention.

I don’t like being mad, so I just googled “people who drive you mad” and found this quote:

” People can’t drive you mad unless you give them the keys.”

Also, I found this 2014 online article “4 Ways to Cope With the People Who Drive You Mad” by Thomas G. Plante at psychologytoday.com. Far fewer people were driving me mad in 2014 than are driving me mad today, but Dr. Plante’s suggestions might still be helpful:

1. Maintain realistic expectations.
2. While you can’t control the behaviors of others, you can control your responses to it.
3. Let go, while keeping the big picture in mind.
4. Ask yourself if you’re just being too demanding.

If it’s driving you mad that I’m not giving more details about those four ways to cope, you can find the full article here.

Can you find any people who drive you mad in these recent images?

Many people drive Harley mad, and there he is maintaining realistic expectations and controlling his responses to the behaviors of others.

Did it drive you mad to notice that my top song of the year, according to Spotify, was “School Days” by Stanley Clarke, during a year when school days drove people mad?

It could drive me mad that I don’t agree with Spotify that “School Days” was my most played song of 2020, but I am not going to give Spotify the keys.

What are your ways to cope with people who drive you mad?

One of my ways to cope is to focus on gratitude, so thanks to all people and cats who helped me create today’s post, including YOU.

Day 2882: Wait for it.

Wait for it.

Joe Biden has been declared the next President of the United States. Again.

Wait for it.

I sang “The Impossible Wait” at a remote Open Mic last night.

Wait for it.

I had to wait until everybody else had performed first.

Wait for it.

My ex-husband wrote me this: “That was worth waiting for. I hope it was recorded. If it gets posted online it could make you a star.”

Wait for it.

Wait for the photos I took yesterday.

Wait for it.

It takes steadiness, character, and commitment to wait for it.

For those who are waiting for my 3000th blog post, I’ll be publishing that on a very special day.

Wait for it.

Unless I’ve miscounted,* that special day is the long-awaited inauguration of Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as Vice President of the United States.

Wait for that day, along with millions of others. Good things come to those who wait.

If you have any thoughts and feelings about this wait-for-it post, don’t wait to express yourself in a comment, below.

Wait for my gratitude to all who have helped me create this daily blog since January 1, 2013, including YOU.

* I TOTALLY miscounted. Next time, I’ll wait to check my math before I publish a post. Those will both be special days, but not the same one. I’ve been waiting to be more forgiving of myself when I make mistakes, and that special day is here!

Day 1727: What kind of day would be perfect for you?

What kind of beginning would be perfect for this day’s post?

What kind of day would be perfect for me?

Any kind of day that includes Leonard Bernstein‘s music would be perfect for me.

 

What kind of day would be perfect for you?

As usual, I like to end with thanks to all who help me create these posts every perfect day and — of course! — to you.

Day 1685: Together again for the first time

“Together again for the first time” is 

• a phrase that has appeared many times on superhero comic book covers,
• somewhat confusing,
• the title of today’s post, and
• inspired by a photo I took last night when I was together again with Boston’s Fenway Park for the first time sitting in the outfield to see Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor, who were together again for the last time on their current tour. 

The world and I have been together since 1953 and so have the Boston Red Sox and The Jimmy Fund — “the oldest and most successful partnership between a sports team and a charity in the nation.” 

The photos in this blog post are together again for the first time, starting now:

My iPhone and I are together again for the first time today creating this post (because my laptop won’t load my photos) and for some reason, my iPhone is putting my pictures together again for the first time in reverse chronological order. The words in that previous sentence are together again for the first time and I hope it’s the last time, too, because I’m going to the Apple Store today to get my technology together again for the first time in a few months. 

At this point, I need to get myself together again and decide which music goes together with today’s blog. 

If I close my eyes, I can still see James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt singing beautifully together again for the last time on their 2017 tour. 

I’m gathering my gratitude together again, so thanks to all who helped me create this together-again-for-the-first-time post and to you —  of course! — for getting yourself together again to visit here, now.