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 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 3387: Insults

Yesterday, on Twitter, somebody I didn’t know posted some weird insults about me, including calling me a “hypocrite.” I considered responding, but decided to ignore and mute them instead.

As I tell people in therapy, the negative tends to stick, so I’m doing my best to completely let go of the insults by sharing thoughts, feelings, quotes, and images with you.

It’s interesting that today is National Lima Bean Respect Day; I assume they often get insults.

This is what I find on YouTube when I search for “insults.”

Thanks to all who’ve read this “insults” post, including YOU!

Day 3378: Funny

It’s funny to me how subjective funny can be.

Late night, when Michael and I were watching the Australian TV series Frayed, we had very different reactions to what was funny. The moment I found laugh-out-loud funny got a blank stare from him and vice versa.

Despite that, I think Michael is as funny as my late father and my son, who are both very funny Aarons.

Here are some “funny” quotes:

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What’s funny, for you, in my images for today?

I think two of those National Days are funny and here is what I find when I search for “barber shop quartets funny” on YouTube.

I look forward to your comments on this “funny” post.

Funny thanks to all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.

Day 3351: Intimacy

Today’s title is inspired by the Daily Bitch Calendar.

As a therapist and a clinical social worker, I am familiar with people’s different experiences and struggles with intimacy. Here are some quotes about intimacy:

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Can you see intimacy in any of the other images I’m sharing today?

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

I also find this:

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Thanks to all who help me create the kind of intimacy that exists in this blog, including YOU.

Day 3343: Toxic people

Yesterday, two of my questions on Twitter were about toxic people.

There must be a lot of toxic people out there— those tweets got hundreds of responses and here are just some of the quotes about toxic people I found online:

What’s your favorite quote about toxic people?

I try my best to avoid toxic people, but let’s see if there are any of them in my other images for today.

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When I search YouTube for “toxic people” I find “No Time for Toxic People” by Imagine Dragons.

Thanks to all the people in my life who are NOT toxic, including you!