Day 2641: Who is the enemy?

These days, sometimes what I’m hearing is people trying to figure out who the enemy is.

Is the enemy

• a political party?
• a political leader?
• those telling us to practice social distancing?
• old habits?
• cognitive distortions?
• the news media?
• the virus itself?
• ourselves?
• those we see as different from us?
• confusion?
• mixed messages?
• hoarding?
• lies?
• the truth?
• greed?
• business?
• socialism?
• capitalism?
• fear?
• death?

Trying to figure out who the enemy is can take up a lot of energy.

When I look around, here, and now, I see no enemies. I see people trying their best to (1) figure out an ever-changing, unknown landscape and (2) get through this with minimal losses.

Do you see any enemies in my photos from yesterday?

Here is “The Enemy Inside” by Dream Theater:

And just to balance things out, here’s “You’ve Got a Friend” covered by my musical hero Jacob Collier, whom I am almost definitely not going to be able to see perform in Boston this May.

I’m sure I’ll see Jacob Collier in better days to come.

Who is going to comment on enemies, friends, or anything else below?

As this tea bag tells us …

… kindness has no enemy and neither does gratitude.

Day 2187: Be a hero.

“Be a hero” — a sign I saw yesterday —

reminds me of a post I wrote my second week of blogging, almost six years ago: Day 11: You might as well be the hero of your own story.

As you can see from the blog title and from the post itself, being a blogging hero, back then, meant using far more words and a lot fewer photos.

I guess being a hero changes as we grow, learn, and mature.

Be a hero, to me, and check out my other photos from yesterday.

Last night, Michael was being a hero by making our favorite vegetable lasagna for me and my son Aaron.

Because I’m feeling nostalgic today, here’s the first appearance of my hero Michael and his heroic lasagna in my blog (starting at 1:23).

Be a hero and please leave a comment, below.

Being a hero includes expressing appreciation and gratitude, so thanks to every hero who helped me create today’s blog and — of course! — to YOU, my heroes!

Day 2173: Everyone

Hi, everyone!

Every one of my photos today could relate to everyone.

Everyone with a closed heart is driving me crazy.

That teabag is telling everyone to be kind to everyone else, but to be compassionate to oneself, in every moment.   I hope everyone reading this can do that.

Everyone I know has been been encouraging me to keep writing songs.  Thanks, everyone!  I wrote every one of these words while I couldn’t sleep:

Don’t Call Me

Don’t call me too weepy,

too creepy, too sleepy,

too selfish, too giving,

too sensitive from living.

Don’t call me too bitchy,

too itchy or twitchy,

too soft or too loud,

too modest, too proud.

If you’re gonna type me or hype me,

pigeonhole, assign a role,

Decide I’m a saint or some asshole,

Don’t call me.

Don’t call me too funny or too serious

I find it deleterious,

So don’t call me.

© Ann Koplow, 2018

How Much Time

How much time do we have with each other?

With a friend, sibling, or mother.

We don’t know,

take it slow,

Let things grow.

How much time do we have with each other?

With a partner, child, or a brother.

It won’t last,

The die is cast.

Take it fast.

© Ann Koplow, 2018

Every one of those lyrics is mine and every one of those songs is not yet finished.

I’m going to try to memorize every one of my songs before I go to Edinburgh in August.  I’ll let everyone know if I’m doing a show there.

Here‘s Van Morrison with Everyone:

I’m looking forward to everyone’s comments and I’d like to thank everyone who helps me create every one of these daily posts, including everyone who reads them (like YOU).

Day 1548: Mean people

Yesterday morning, when I was thinking about mean people and also about what people mean, I saw this bumper sticker.

What does that bumper sticker mean to you, people?

Who are the mean people?

What makes a person mean?

Does it matter what they really mean when they’re being mean?

Even though we may disagree on who the mean people are, can we agree that mean people suck?

Last night, when Michael and I were discussing the meaning of people being mean, he quoted a line from Bruce Springsteen‘s Nebraska.

“I guess there’s just a meanness in this world.”

I still don’t understand what it means that so many people in Nebraska (and in this world) voted for somebody I think is mean.

What do my other photos mean, people?

That last photo means that I meant to take a better picture of what Michael cooked for me last night. Michael, who is the opposite of mean, is a mean cook. (And by mean cook, I mean a great one.)

What does Nebraska mean, people?

Is it mean that I’m asking so many questions?

Here’s my last question for this mean-people post: What does my last picture mean, people?

It means that I’m grateful to all the people who helped me create this post and to you — of course! — for reading it, no matter what you think it means.

Day 1544: If …

If I were to choose a wonderful book for questions to ask during group therapy sessions, what would it be?

If I were to share one question that was asked in a group therapy session last night, what would it be?

If you were to choose what you wanted written on your gravestone, what would it be?

If I were to create a gravestone online that showed my answer to that question, what would it look like?

If I were to choose one person who could untangle hopelessly tangled jewelry, who would it be?

My boyfriend, Michael.

If you wanted to see a map showing all-time readership for this blog, where might you find it?

If I were to predict one country where my blog would never be read, what would it be?

Greenland.

If my friends on Facebook were asked to guess what that was a map of, how might they respond?

• Alien abductions?
• Gun deaths?
• Ketchup countries vs. mustard countries vs. Russian dressing countries vs. mold countries?
• Highest rate of obesity?
• Years of Living Non-Judgmentally blog readers?
• Places that currently have Meals on Wheels and PBS?
• Places that have The Voice try outs?

If I were to create a customized t-shirt, what might it say?

If I were to choose a great saying for a tea bag, what might it be?

If I could choose an appropriate song for today’s post, what might it be?

If you could leave a comment for this post, what would it be?

If I could thank anybody in the world right now, who would it be?

Everybody who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — YOU.

 

Day 1419: Let us be kind and compassionate to remove the sadness of the world

Yesterday, a kind and compassionate teabag removed the sadness of my world.

Let me be kind and compassionate to remove the sadness of the world, as best I can,  with this story:

When I was at cardiac rehab yesterday morning, feeling the sadness of the world, a guy (who had been kind and compassionate to me the week before) teased another guy there, like so: “You lift weights like a girl!” I immediately said, “Is that still an insult?”

Was that kind and compassionate?

When it became obvious to me that my new pacemaker/defibrillator was not being kind and compassionate to my heart while I was exercising, I decided to leave cardiac rehab early. I said to the guy, “I’m leaving, but it’s not because of what you said.”  He replied, “Hey! I’m doing my best, you know. I used to be a truck driver. I’m evolving!” I said, “We’re all evolving.”

Was that kind and compassionate?

To me, it felt like it removed some of the sadness of the world.

Soon after that, my kind and compassionate doctor, Mark Estes, removed the sadness of my world by reprogramming my pacemaker/defibrillator and by giving me more hope about my future. We also talked a little about the sadness of the world, which felt kind and compassionate.

Let us be kind and compassionate with my other photos from yesterday:

Do those remove any sadness from your world?

Here‘s the kind and compassionate music removing the sadness of my world, here and now:

 

Will you be kind and compassionate and remove the sadness of the world with a comment?

Let me be kind and compassionate, thanking all  who helped me create this post and you — of course! — for bringing your kindness and compassion to my world, today.

Day 285: How to choose a doctor

Dear Readers,

I would like to share my abundant expertise with you about an important and timely topic.

Where I live, everybody is talking about health care.

And no matter where you are, having a good doctor on your team is really important.

Here’s what I’ve learned — over many decades of experience — about choosing a doctor.

1. Make a list of your priorities.  In other words, think about what’s important, to you, in a doctor.
2. Be an educated and self-empowered consumer. That is, ask to meet different doctors until you find one that matches your priorities well enough.

It’s a short list, isn’t it?  However, it took me a long time to figure that out.

But that’s how I always choose doctors, ever since I’ve become an adult.

Let me show you how it works, for me.

Here’s my list of priorities, for a doctor:

1. Experience with my medical issues (or, at least, eager to get more experience).
2. Listens well.
3. Explains and communicates well.
4. Flexible thinker  (in order to understand unexpected and complex issues of care).
5. Responsive to requests, in a timely enough manner.
6. Demonstrates kindness and compassion.
7. Creates a comfortable enough atmosphere.

For every doctor involved in my care, I’ve made choices, using that list of priorities.

Last week, I saw my Primary Care Physician, Dr. Laura Snydman.  She definitely meets my priorities.

Here’s some proof, of at least one of those priorities:

Don’t you agree?

Thanks to Dr. Snydman, adorable dogs everywhere, compassionate treaters of all kinds, people dealing with health care issues,  and to you, of course, for reading today.