Day 3553: Distance

Here and now, I’m trying to gain some distance from

• a scary medical event I experienced last week,
• fear in general ,
• the sad and unexpected loss of a co-worker,
• catastrophizing,
• confusion about best next steps to solve problems,
• self doubt,
• the news, and
• toxic people.

Today’s Daily Bitch has something to say about distance …

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… and so do many other notable people:

I take a little distance from things by blogging, accepting all my feelings, and sharing images like these:

I will try to gain some distance by letting stress and worry fade away for the day.

Also, I didn’t walk any distance at all yesterday because of bad weather and a VERY long work day. Today, I will walk my usual distance around home.

Here’s what I’ve been hearing in my head as I’ve been going the distance creating this “distance” post:

From a distance, I hope you can feel my gratitude for YOU.

Day 3546: Scholars

Looking at all the images I have to share with you on my last day of a terrific and illuminating Road Scholar adventure, I think “Scholars” is a good title for this blog post.

Do you scholars agree?

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Thanks to all the wonderful scholars who help me blog every precious day, including YOU!

Day 3519: Different perspectives

One thing I’ve learned as a group therapist is that different people can have very different perspectives on the same issue.

Not surprisingly, there are many different quotes on different perspectives.

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Do you see different perspectives in my images for today?

I have different perspectives on air travel, which I hope will be nationally accessible next month when I fly south to Florida and Georgia.

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “different perspectives.”

I also find this:

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I look forward to the different perspectives that appear in the comments section, below.

Thanks to all who have different perspectives, including YOU!

Day 3507: Shadows

I decided early yesterday that today’s blog post would be titled “shadows” after I took my first photo of the day.

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I was very aware of the relief to be found in the shadows as I took my walk in the early morning heat.

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While I was walking among those shadows, I was thinking of quotes about shadows by Carl Jung.

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Carl Jung casts a long shadow, doesn’t he?

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Can you see shadows in the rest of my images for today?

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Here’s the Gene Kelly dance number from Summer Stock where he was casting those interesting shadows.

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And dare I say that I was writing about the shadow when I created my original song “Everybody’s Somebody’s Asshole”?

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Thanks to all who help me confront and share shadows in this daily blog, including YOU!

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.