Day 1769: Perfect

Because I talk to people about letting go of the need to be perfect, I’m not surprised that I’ve written only one other post titled “Perfect.”

Because human beings are not perfect, I’m not surprised that my perfect temperature in that July 2016 post was temporary and between two hospitalizations.

Yesterday, I had a perfect INR of 3.1.

I confess that I am NOT being perfect in preventing falls, because I

• am not wearing my glasses while I’m typing this post,
• do not keep my home perfectly clutter free,
• am often walking and talking,
• have texted while walking, and
• do not bring my list of medicines to doctor visits.

I DO try not to get distracted.  However, I’m distracted enough by that list that I’m going to get my glasses.

I think my new glasses are perfect.

That’s probably temporary, too.

Let’s see if there are any perfect quotes about “Perfect.”

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful. — Alice Walker

Beauty is truth’s smile when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror. — Rabindranath Tagore

Instead of trying to make your life perfect, give yourself the freedom to make it an adventure, and go ever upward. — Drew Houston

An arrogant person considers himself perfect. This is the chief harm of arrogance. It interferes with a person’s main task in life — becoming a better person. — Leo Tolstoy

I never expect to see a perfect work from an imperfect man. — Alexander Hamilton

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. — Winston Churchill

Tell me I’m clever,

Tell me I’m kind,

Tell me I’m talented,

Tell me I’m cute,

Tell me I’m sensitive,

Grateful and wise,

Tell me I’m perfect —

But tell me the truth. — Shel Silverstein

To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle. — Walt Whitman

Are any of these photos perfect?

 

While taking most of those photos yesterday, I was listening to Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish That I Could Come Back as a Flower,” which was perfect.

Any comments from you would be perfect.

Perfect thanks to all who helped me create today’s imperfect post and — of course! — to YOU.

Day 1474: Safety

Lately,  people around me seem very concerned about safety.

Last night, safety was the main topic in my therapy group.

Here’s how I expressed myself about safety:

Somebody else in the group made a “safety crown.”

How would you express yourself about the topic “safety”?

I think the other photos I took yesterday relate to safety, too.

 

I guess I feel enough safety on this blog to show myself, open-heart surgery scar and all.

I’m late for cardiac rehab,  so safety dictates that I end my post here, with one more photo.

 

 

Day 1340: What you need to know

What you need to know first about this post is that it was inspired by this patient publication from the Mayo Clinic, which I was reading yesterday:

What you need to know about me, right now, is:

1. I’m having open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic later this month.
2. My only son is leaving for a five-year program at Edinburgh University in 10 days, and he wants to watch certain movies with me and my boyfriend Michael before he leaves.
3. I am a group therapist who recently facilitated two groups where the members chose to focus on the topics “nature” and “appreciation.”
4. I saw my cardiologist, Dr. Deeb Salem, yesterday, and he was very encouraging about my future health.
5. I am not particularly looking forward to open heart surgery, especially because it will definitely incapacitate me from blogging daily, as I have every day since January 2013.
6. I don’t like being incapacitated.
7. A person I greatly respect used the words “delightful,” “brilliant,” and “resilient” to describe me yesterday.
8. I’m very glad to know that I’m resilient, since that implies I will recover relatively quickly from open heart surgery.
9. I like cats.
10. I have to watch what I eat and avoid too much salt.
11. I have handwriting that can be difficult to read.
12. I took lots of other photos yesterday, if you need to know:

 

What you need to know is that I always try to make a grreat choice for music in my blog posts.

What you need to know is that when I  first understood, four months ago, that I needed to have heart valve replacement surgery performed at the Mayo Clinic, I created this YouTube video about that and shared it in a previous blog post:

You need to know that I’m more reconciled to heart valve replacement surgery today than I was when I first sang that song on May 31.

Anything you need to know or to express, here and now?

What you need to know is that I appreciate every one who helped me create today’s post and  you — of course! — no matter what you need to know, today.

Day 1234: Travels

As my eye travels over the title, above, I notice that my daily blogging travels have brought us to a particularly interesting number.

1 … 2 … 3 … 4 … Ready for more travels in this post?

The people who included my therapy group in their travels yesterday chose the topic “travels” as the focus of the work of the group. The group traveled to that choice after traveling to many other important issues, including family, being present, depression, anger, comfort, discomfort, comfort foods,  connections, being alone, difficult people, optimism, fear, finances, delays, luck, judgment, letting go of judgment, what we can control, and time.

During the time of that group, my mind traveled to all these places:

I hope you don’t feel lost as I share other photos I’ve taken on my recent travels.

 

When my boyfriend Michael, my son Aaron, and I traveled to Starbucks last night for coffee and no cookies, my traveling iPhone took these pictures of Aaron with the New York Times:

Because Aaron has never picked up one of those before in his travels, Aaron is asking Michael, “How do you operate a newspaper?”

How about a little traveling music?

At this time next week, I’ll be traveling around  the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA, to consult with another cardiologist about my rambin’ and traveling heart. My heart hopes for many more wonderful travels ahead.

Good travels to all who helped me create this traveling post and to you — of course!  — for including this blog in your travels today.

Day 974: It bugs me

It bugs me that the two plants in my office —  where I do individual and group psychotherapy — have bugs.

It probably doesn’t bug you that you can’t see those bugs, a/k/a soil gnats. It bugs me that I’ve been trying for weeks to get rid of those bugs, which look like tiny fruit flies, to no avail.

It bugs me that I bought this “natural” bug spray at Whole Foods Market:

…and when I tried to use it, according to directions …

… that resulted in …

… buggy directions I couldn’t read, at all.

It bugs me when I can’t follow directions, no matter how hard I try.

It bugs me that what I could read in the directions — including many warnings about usage for bugs — indicated that Anti-Pest-O might bug eyes, lungs and other parts of non-bugs. So, I decided to bug neither my patients nor myself and I did not spray that bug spray in my buggy office.

It bugs me when I can’t use a product that others have bugged me to buy. It bugs me to have to return ANYTHING to any store, buggy or otherwise.

It bugs me that spraying the bugs with soapy water (not pictured) hasn’t worked, despite my being bugged by promises that it would.   It bugs me a lot less to battle bugs with something as benign and straightforward as soapy water, but those bugs have seemed totally unbugged (and perhaps a tad brightened) when I’ve bugged them with soapy water.

It bugs me that once I allow myself to be bugged, lots of other things can bug me, too.

For example, litter left behind by buggy Bostonians bugged me yesterday.

  
  
  
  

Buggy marketing schemes and slogans bugged me, too.

Other directions I couldn’t understand bugged me.

Things that slowed me down bugged me (and others).

 

 
Yes, I can be cross here, there, and everywhere, when I’m feeling bugged.

Would it bug you if I listed even more things that can bug me, if I’m in a bugged mood?

• Not being able to photographically capture a big, yellow, beautiful moon.

• Not understanding how to perfectly operate new technology (including phones and cars).

• My inability to portray our cat Harley sitting unbugged on a table,  because he always gets bugged and  jumps off (the little bugger).

• Somebody wearing a graphic t-shirt, one buggy day after declaring he’s bugged by them.

• Buggy parking rules, around here.

• Things that make loud noises, like buggy construction projects.

• Difficult thoughts and feelings that bug people I treat.

• People I love to bug leaving (not pictured),  like my wonderful and esteemed co-worker Mary, this week.
• My not being a good baker and therefore needing to end this blog post early, to pick up sweets for a going-away party for Mary today.
• Having to leave work early today to bug my dentist about some fillings  that have been bugging me.
• My sleep apnea machine, with yet another mask that’s been bugging me.

• Having so many cardiac-related tests and appointments scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at a hospital (where they treat lots of different types of bugs), that several doctors, medical technicians and I will be bugging each other for about four hours.
• Getting bugged by buggily insignificant decisions, like which sign-in book to use at a 45th high school reunion (which might include bugs, because it’s near the ocean).

• The automatic and painful assumption that I bug other people, when I really don’t.

After all this bugging, maybe it’s time to de-bug this bug-filled blog post.

One of my patients did NOT bug me, yesterday, when she brought in this:

If you can’t read all those 18 rules of living by the Dalai Lama, please don’t bug me too much about that. I photographed them the best I could, at the end of a long and buggy day.

What music might I bug you with now?

The Beatles are suggesting that we not bug them, in “Don’t Bother Me.”

If anything in this post has bugged you in any way, please bug me about that in a comment, below.

Buggy and bugged thanks to all bugs and humans that helped me write this post and special thanks to you, no matter what bugs — or is bugged by — you, at any time.