These days, it can be difficult to love what you see, despite your best intentions to do so.
Yesterday, in the midst of seeing too much
injustice,
harsh judgment,
insensitivity,
insecurity,
greed,
violence,
pain,
suffering,
cruelty,
hurtful actions,
thoughtlessness,
loss,
lies,
close-mindedness,
emptiness, and
crises,
I practiced the skill of loving what I see.
Do you love what you see here?
I loved seeing that giant baby head at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts yesterday and I also loved seeing Michael ask my son Aaron if he thought the rest of that baby was underground.
I do not love seeing or saying goodbyes ….
… but I will be saying goodbye to Boston and Michael tonight and hello to Edinburgh (which I love) tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll love what I see in Edinburgh.
I really love things, life, and people, and I don’t want people to die. I’m not afraid of death, but want to live.”
I also love that today’s blog post title allows me to easily include any things or people I choose from my life, including this list a person made three nights ago when she couldn’t sleep:
Messages from the Internal Critic
That’s boring.
You’re repeating yourself.
Nobody cares.
You’re being foolish.
That doesn’t make sense.
You’re making people uncomfortable.
If you bother people, they’ll go away.
You don’t know how to take care of yourself.
You don’t know how to take care of other people.
You’re too selfish.
You’re not thinking enough about other people’s feelings.
You’re stupid.
That’s a stupid thing to say.
That was a thoughtless thing to say.
You should have known better.
You’re confusing people.
You’re taking too long.
You’re rushing.
You’re making things worse.
You’re wasting money.
You’re being cheap.
You’re doing harm.
You’re attracting harm.
You’re showing off.
You’re bragging.
You’re not being careful enough.
You make bad decisions.
You choose the wrong people.
You’re a pushover.
You’re too aggressive.
You’re too trusting.
You’re too paranoid.
You’ll get into trouble.
You’ll get somebody else into trouble.
If you do that, you’ll make somebody mad.
You’re making too much noise.
You’re taking up too much space.
I think all the things internal critics say are taking up too much space in people’s life. What do you think, people?
Here are some recent photos of things, life, and people:
Here’s some thing I hope people know: you can click on any of those photos to enlarge the life in them.
Because I’m silencing my internal critic, I don’t mind repeating the photo of these people, whom I’ve been visiting at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts for most of my life:
Here are things about the lives of those two people:
Here are two photos that my friend Deb took of things, life, and people:
Thanks to Paul Gauguin, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Picasso, Â my friend Mary, Arlington’s Center for the Arts, The Healing Center, the Pat Metheny Group, and all the other humans who helped me create today’s post. And thanks to you, no matter where you come from, what you are, or where you’re going.
Yesterday at work, I facilitated a group of ten people hoping to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress.
Today, I’m experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress — Â not because of that group, but because of my own inner reactions to what I’m perceiving in the world around me.
Therefore, I shall now use some skills we discuss in  therapy groups, including
reaching out to supportive people,
accepting what is,
identifying achievable next steps, and
focusing on positive images.
Here are some images I captured yesterday — the first two at work and the rest at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.
I believe it helps to look closer, even at things that are difficult to see. For example, I saw this inside, at the Museum of Fine Arts.
When I looked closer, I saw through it, to the outside.
Seeing through to the outside, with this post, is helping me now.
in therapy, people talk a lot about what other people think and do,
other people are going to be judging my voice in February, when I try out for the TV show “The Voice,”
other people are reading this blog today (including you),
I am facilitating a therapy group this morning with eleven other people,
I am visiting Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts this afternoon, to see paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and other people, and
other people have recently been labeling me “edgy,” “quirky,” “attention-starved,” “caring,” “looking exactly like your son Aaron,” and “looking nothing like your son Aaron.”
Why do we spend so much time wondering what other people might think and might do?
After all, other people are just people (like me and like you).
If other people want to read other posts about other people, this other person suggests other people look here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Other people (other than you) are responsible for these other photos:
Now I’m wondering what other people think of those other photos.
Other thoughts, other people?
One other sentence: Thanks to other people, everywhere, for visiting this other person today.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 