Day 3582: Cool

As the weather here turns cool and we approach the midterm elections, I am trying to keep my cool, which was difficult yesterday when Joan the cat suddenly disappeared when I momentarily got distracted when we were outside together and I was inspecting the cool construction work on our home. I lost my cool as I searched for Joan, catastrophizing that I would never see that cool cat again. After many uncool minutes when Joan was uncharacteristically silent while I was calling her, she suddenly popped up, cool as a cucumber (although cats actually are not cool with cucumbers, as you can see here).

Also, my cool yellow Honda Fit with manual transmission has a brand new alternator which travelled all the way from Arkansas to Massachusetts, so now I’m cool about it starting up in the cool mornings. I find it cool and fun to drive a car with a stick shift and I think it’s uncool that they’re phasing out those kinds of cars.

At the end of the day, I did some cool EMDR therapy to help me stay cool while others are losing their cool around me, and my therapist and I came up with a cool positive cognition: “I can trust myself.”

How cool are my images for today?

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It’s cool to make a difference and here is “Cool” from West Side Story on The Ed Sullivan Show!

I have many cool memories of watching that show when I was a kid.

I look forward to your cool comments and thanks to all the cool creatures who help me blog every day, including YOU

Day 3570: Worth waiting for

In an EMDR therapy session last week when I was processing some recent medical scares, I came up with a helpful and healing phrase.

I’m worth waiting for.

I’ve been waiting my whole life to feel worthy enough to believe that.

I hope the full explanation of today’s title is worth waiting for — I’ll reveal it after I share today’s images (which include other things worth waiting for).

Some of today’s National Days were worth waiting for, although I don’t know why that list doesn’t include “Indigenous People’s Day.”

That magic hat I ordered online was worth waiting for and I’m going to use it a week from today in an IN-PERSON Coping and Healing group, which was also worth waiting for.

That other reason why today’s title is “worth waiting for?” A great construction crew is coming today to work on our upstairs bathroom, which has been worth waiting for.

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “worth waiting for.”

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I know your comments are worth waiting for and I hope my gratitude is, too!

Day 3323: I’m big enough to have options

In my EMDR therapy, we have identified a very powerful “positive cognition.”

I’m big enough to have options.

This helps me because when I’m lost, anxious, frightened, or helpless, I feel small — probably because (1) I was traumatized by hospital stays and major surgeries when I was a kid and (2) I’m only 5’3” tall.

Also, it always helps to know I have options.

Here and now, I’m big enough to have options about what I share in today’s blog.

I’m big enough to have options to shower with a friend, have ice cream or Nutella whenever I want, play outside or inside, pay attention to or ignore weatherpeople, and avoid bacon because (1) my parents kept Kosher and (2) I associate the smell of bacon with my childhood stays in the hospital.

Let’s see what options I find when I search YouTube for “I’m big enough to have options.”

I’m big enough to have options about how to express gratitude to all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.

Day 2919: I’m so glad to see you!

Whenever people show up to my therapy groups, I say out loud, “I’m so glad to see you!”

This morning, when I looked at my bleary-eyed, almost-68-year-old self in the mirror, I said out loud, “I’m so glad to see you!”

I’m so glad to tell you how much that immediately improved my mood. I’m so glad to recommend you try that the next time you see yourself in the mirror.

I’m so glad to share with you these images that I was so glad to see yesterday.

I’m so glad to see the Daily Bitch and I’m so glad that I don’t see anything alarming under the bed these days.

Here is “So Glad to See You Here” by Paul McCartney and Wings with Rockestra:

I’m so glad to see so many rock stars in that video. How many can you see?

I’m so glad to see you! I hope you can see that here, every day.

Day 2834: Healing ?

Here and now, there are many questions out there about whether people are healing or getting worse.

Yesterday, while I was taking a healing walk outside, I noticed this:

In today’s photo gallery, do you see healing ?

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What is the most healing image, for you? What’s the most painful one?

Lately, I’ve been healing from painful experiences by doing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. That reminds me of my original song “Triggers,” which I hope will be healing to share.

That’s from my hopefully healing Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, August 2019.

Any comment you leave below will be healing for me. And as I like to say, “All healing is mutual.”

Gratitude is always healing, so thanks to all who are healing and helping others heal, including YOU.

Day 2803: It’s for you

It’s for you that I write these blog posts. But it’s also for me. As I encounter so many ups and downs in life, blogging every morning strengthens me for the day ahead.

It’s for you that I share today’s music, by Pat Metheny and the late Lyle Mays.

At the same time, sharing “It’s For You” from As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls is for me.

It’s for you that I’m trying out a new, unfamiliar-to-me editor as I blog today. But it’s also for me (to increase my confidence about using new technology as I prepare to host my 50th high school reunion on Zoom).

It’s for you that I captured all these images, but it’s also for me.

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It’s for you and for me that I realize that “It’s for you” would make a good caption for this:

It’s for you that I have a comments section but it’s also for me.

It’s for you and for me that I collect images of gratitude to end these posts.

I’m grateful that writing this post with the new editor was much easier than I expected! This reminds me of the helpful cognition I’m working on in EMDR therapy:

I can trust myself, which allows me to figure out who else to trust.

Thanks to Pat, Lyle, Harley, Michael (for the burritos), the South Shore of Boston, our neighborhood church, our neighbors, snowy and not-so-snowy egrets, WordPress, and YOU.

Day 2796: The Element of Surprise

Much to my surprise, I’ve already written one post titled The Element of Surprise.  Would it surprise you if I shared how long it’s been since I created that post and all the surprising elements within?

Surprise!  I’m not going to do that math today.

Do you like the element of surprise?  Somebody does.

I won’t be surprised if people comment below that they  like the element of surprise only in certain circumstances. Personally, I’m still waiting for somebody to throw me a successfully executed surprise party.   And it’s probably no surprise if I say I’m hoping for no unpleasant surprises during the upcoming election season in the USA.

Can you find elements of surprise in any of these other recent images?

 

The last time I did a photo montage like that, I was unpleasantly surprised to see how the different  photographic elements showed up on my phone. I …

.. hope that you can easily explore elements of surprise in those smaller photos, but I won’t be surprised if it’s difficult to do so.

That reminds me of the elementally unhelpful “negative cognition” I’m letting go of through EMDR therapy, which is surprisingly effective in healing old traumas:

I can’t trust anybody, including myself.

Did that surprise anybody?

Here’s something that surprised me and my husband Michael yesterday:

Here’s something that did not surprise me:

Here’s another element of surprise: when the PictureThis app identified this …

as poke, pokeberries, and poke salad, I was surprised.

Now I’m wondering if my chosen musical selection for today has the element of surprise.

 

I’m hoping that it’s no surprise when I end each post with gratitude, because I am so thankful I get to share elements of surprise, every day,  with wonderful people like YOU.

 

 

Day 2788: Approaching

Here’s what is approaching, for me:

• The beginning of my two-week staycation.
• My husband Michael’s birthday.
• An EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy session to deal with some lingering traumas.
• A ZOOM training session to help with my upcoming 50th High School Reunion.
• My 50th High School Reunion.
• Th U.S. Presidential Election.
• Magnificence.

• The rest of my recent photos:

Harley hasn’t been as skittish, lately, when I’ve been approaching.

What’s been approaching, for you?

Every day, I encourage myself and others to be approaching what feels left unsaid, so  we can be approaching a good enough sense of closure.  Why? Because we never know when our last day is approaching.

Today’s music selection — “Something Left Unsaid” by the late, great Lyle Mays — is approaching.

I look forward to any and all comments that might be approaching.

Can you guess what’s approaching, here and now?

 

Day 2116: How to respond

Yesterday, people were discussing how to respond to a particular type of comment:

How to respond to my 7 other photos and 1 video from yesterday?

 

 

How to respond to somebody who is letting her hair go gray?

How to respond to this post?  However you choose.

How to respond to the people who helped me create this post and to you for being here? With thanks.

 

Day 1634: Warnings

WARNING:  This post has warnings in it.

Yesterday, my EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapist, George, talked to me about my over-developed mental warning system.

WARNING: I keep forgetting what “EMDR” stands for and I have to look it up every time I write about it (like here and here).

George gave me an important warning, yesterday, in our therapy session. He warned that I give myself this warning way too much:

I have to hyper-vigilantly protect myself against the world’s incompetence, ignorance, hostility, lack of understanding, ambivalence, negligence, etc.,  in order to get my needs met and to survive.

WARNING: I write important warnings down so I can remember them.

George warned me that these constant warnings are probably bad for my health. He suggested I tell myself this instead:

I am safe. I have everything I need.

Do you see any warnings in my photos from yesterday?

 

 

WARNING: If children scare you, be warned that The Warning is a hard-rock band of three young sisters from Monterey, Mexico. Here‘s The Warning’s TED talk (and play):

 

WARNING: This writer loves comments on her posts, which you can leave below.

WARNING: I have everything I need, here and now, thanks to all who helped me create this post with warnings and — of course! — to YOU.