Seven years ago (but who’s counting?), I created and published my other lone daily blog post with the title “Alone in the presence of others.”
In the presence of others, here and now, I notice that earlier blog post
- focuses on group therapy,
- has no photos, and
- has no comments.
Since then, I’ve made a t-shirt that says,”Alone in the presence of others,” which seems even more relevant during these pandemic days.
We are always in the presence of others, even when we feel alone. There’s a beautiful group intervention about that in the incredible new series GROUP on YouTube. GROUP features scripted characters, improvised interactions, and the renowned group therapist Elliot Ziesel, PhD as Dr. Ezra, the group leader. At the end of the first episode (at 14:31), there’s this exchange:
Karina: But the thing about unconditional love is that you can lose it.
Dr. Ezra: Unconditional love?
Karina: Yes.
Dr. Ezra: How can you lose that?
Karina: My mother died.
Karina: You don’t continue to talk to her? She doesn’t continue to live inside you somewhere?
Karina: She does.
Dr. Ezra: She’s gone, but she’s not dead.
Yesterday, when I was alone in the presence of others, I …
- watched several episodes of GROUP,
- thought about my late mother and my late father,
- communicated with my lone child, Aaron, who is in the presence of others 3,068 miles away in Edinburgh, Scotland (but who’s counting?),
- told Aaron about GROUP, and
- took all these photos:
That delicious toasted quinoa was alone in the presence of others on my dinner plate last night, thanks to the presence of my dear husband Michael.
Would you like to be alone in the presence of others in the comments section, below?
Today’s expression of gratitude is alone in the presence of others.
