Yesterday’s post was “What matters to you?” Does it count if today’s title is very similar?
I think it does count. I can’t count the number of times I have told people — in individual and group therapy — “It counts,” when they try to dismiss some positive action or attribute.
Let’s count how many meanings the word “count” has:
count 1 (kount)
v. count·ed, count·ing, counts
v.tr.
1.
a. To name or list (the units of a group or collection) one by one in order to determine a total; number.
b. To recite numerals in ascending order up to and including: count three before firing.
c. To include in a reckoning; take account of: ten dogs, counting the puppies.
2. Informal
a. To include by or as if by counting: Count me in.
b. To exclude by or as if by counting: Count me out.
3. To believe or consider to be; deem: Count yourself lucky.
v.intr.
1. To recite or list numbers in order or enumerate items by units or groups: counted by tens.
2.
a. To have importance: You really count with me.
b. To have a specified importance or value: Their opinions count for little. Each basket counts for two points.
3. Music To keep time by counting beats.
n.
1. The act of counting or calculating.
2.
a. A number reached by counting.
b. The totality of specific items in a particular sample: a white blood cell count.
3. Law Any of the separate and distinct charges in an indictment.
4. Sports The counting from one to ten seconds, during which time a boxer who has been knocked down must rise or be declared the loser.
5. Baseball The number of balls and strikes that an umpire has called against a batter.
Phrasal Verbs:
count down
To recite numerals in descending order, as during a countdown.
count off
To recite numbers in turn, as when dividing people or things into groups : The 24 children counted off by twos, forming a dozen pairs.
count on
1. To rely on; depend on: You can count on my help.
2. To be confident of; anticipate: counted on getting a raise.
count out
To declare (a boxer) out to have been knocked out by calling out the count.
Idiom:
count heads/noses
To make a count of members, attendees, or participants by or as if by noting bodily presence.
[Middle English counten, from Old French conter, from Latin computre, to calculate : com-, com- + putre, to think; see pau-2 in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: count1, import, matter, signify, weigh1
These verbs mean to be of significance or importance: an opinion that counts; actions that import little; decisions that really matter; thoughts that signify much; considerations that weigh with her.
count 2 (kount)
n.
1. A nobleman in some European countries.
2. Abbr. Ct. Used as a title for such a nobleman.
[Middle English counte, from Old French conte, from Late Latin comes, comit-, occupant of any state office, from Latin, companion; see ei- in Indo-European roots.]— from thefreedictionary.com
What else have you been counting, lately? I’ve been counting
- calories (very half-heartedly),
- weeks until winter, and
- days until my presentation about “The Koplow Method” of group therapy.
Somebody I count on, at work, has labeled the group therapy I do “The Koplow Method.” I’m not sure that title counts, officially.
“The Koplow Method” of blogging includes:
- Numbers in the title.
- Definitions.
- Word play.
- Photos.
- Music.
- Digressions.
- True Confessions.
- Guessing Games.
- Invitations to participate.
- Gratitude.
… but who’s counting?
Would anybody like to guess how many cats there are in these photos I took yesterday?
Did you count how many Counts were in those photos, also?
You can count on me to name what’s left unsaid. For example, is anybody wondering why I included a sandwich among all those cats and counts, above? Somebody, named Sandra, who has served me, more often than I can count, at a favorite restaurant, recommended I get a sandwich named after her, yesterday. I’ll count to ten while you guess what’s in that Sandra Special Sandwich.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
It’s a Macaroni and Cheese Sandwich. Care to count how many times I’ve had one of those?
(Psssst! The answer is greater than zero and less than 2.)
Will this post — with all its countless hopes, thoughts, feelings, dreams, and meanderings — count, when all is said and done? Maybe it will, if I include some musical counts.
There’s counting in these 1, 2, 3 songs:
(Count on finding “The Middle of the Road” by The Pretenders here on YouTube)
(It counts that YouTube has “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, here)
(Bruno Mars is counting in this YouTube video)
If you have any questions or thoughts about anything in this post, I hope you know that they all count.
What counts for me, in the moment?
- People I love.
- The work I do.
- Expressing myself.
- Learning.
Speaking of learning, this morning I finished all 3 hundred and 16 pages of Charles Gulotta’s memoir, “The Long Hall.” That book — shown in the last photo, above, among countless other things — counts a great deal.
I wanted to end this post with a photo of the last page of “The Long Hall,” which says “Thank you,” but — using another Koplow Method — I’ve misplaced my phone (or the phone is taking a break and hiding, really well, somewhere).
So, instead, I’ll end with another photo I snapped yesterday.
… all you people who count, out there.
In case this counts for anybody, I DID find my phone, finally, along with the following photo. Can you count the number of things on my son’s back?
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 