Day 2499: Please don’t die

During both of my group therapy retreats this past weekend, people honored and remembered the amazing and beloved Deb Carmichael, past President of the Northeastern Society for Group Psychotherapy.

After the retreats — which involved some small talk but mostly medium and big talk — I was thinking about all the wonderful friends I have lost over the last few months and I remembered how I’ve been saying to people, “Please don’t die.”

Then, last night at our local supermarket, I saw this:

Please don’t die, all you people who are reading this. Or, at least, do your best to stay alive as long as possible.

Here are the other photos I took yesterday:

Please don’t die, Harley and Oscar.

Please don’t die, tigers and other wildlife.  Please don’t die, cousin Lani (who sends me great photos of tigers through snail mail, which is  apparently still alive).

Please don’t die and use whatever remedies that might help you stay alive.

Dwell in possibility (following the undying words of Emily Dickinson) and please don’t die.

Please don’t die and please celebrate every day that you are alive.  YAAAAY!

Please don’t die, no matter who you are, what you are, or how you say hello.  Just don’t say goodbye.

Here‘s “Please Don’t Die” by Father John Misty.

Please don’t die,  Josh Tillman (a/k/a Father John Misty).

Please leave your undying comments below and please accept my gratitude, which does not die.

 

Day 2156: Three of my favorite words?

Post title inspiration?

Greeting card front:

Three-word phrases:

 

Have a favorite?

I love walking.  Three little photos:

 

Three Little Words:

I love Ella.

Your favorite words? Probably not these:

Click on links.  People hate “moist.”

Two more photos!

Day 2135: Healing factors

A week ago Sunday, I attended a wonderful talk  by J. Scott Rutan, a highly esteemed writer, teacher, and practitioner of group psychotherapy. During the talk — offered by the Northeastern Society for Group Psychotherapy —   Scott handed out a list of healing factors, and invited everybody to rank the healing factors in order.

This was a difficult task, because all of those healing factors are very important. However, I had no difficulty identifying what healing factor I rely on the most: Hope.

I hope it’s okay if I quote from my first blog post with “hope” in the title, written almost exactly three years ago today:

I hope I can express, in my first post about hope, how important hope is for human beings who struggle, cope, bruise, and heal.

I hope you understand that I’m saying that hope is important to all of us.

Hope is:

• a word that comes up in therapy, every day.
• something I hold for every person I encounter.
• according to Emily Dickinson, “the thing with feathers.”

I hope there’s hope in the three photos I took yesterday.

Michael loves raccoons, so I bought him this mug yesterday.  I hoped that he’d like it and he did!

 

 

I hope we all survive the coming winter and don’t swallow too much snow.

 

 

I hope Scott Rutan, everyone else who helps me create these blog posts, and my readers know how thankful I am for them.

I hope this week brings good news to all who hold hope for the USA.

I hope you find hope in this:

I hope you comment about your own healing factors, below,  and accept more thanks from me.

Day 2103: Out of the comfort zone

 

Today, I’m out of my comfort zone because of news I got yesterday about somebody I love. The news is very discomforting but not definitive, so I don’t feel comfortable writing more about that now.

To comfort both of us last night, I shared this poem:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

— Emily Dickinson

It’s in my comfort zone to also share this:

 

My only photo today comes out of yesterday’s post:

Comfort Zone is the product pictured in yesterday’s post —   Day 2102: Less Stress. More Love — which I promised I would reveal today.  I wish less stress, more love, and a calming environment to all.

I hope you feel comfortable expressing yourself in the comment zone, below.

Thanks and hope to all who helped me create today’s post and — of course — to you, who comfort me with your presence.

Day 1873: Two words

Another post!

Fantastic joke:

A man wanted to become a monk so he went to the monastery and talked to the head monk.

The head monk said, “You must take a vow of silence and can only say two words every three years.”

The man agreed and after the first 3 years, the head monk came to him and said, “What are your two words?”

“Food cold!” the man replied.

Three more years went by and the head monk came to him and said “What are your two words?”

“Robe dirty!” the man exclaimed.

Three more years went by and the head monk came to him and said, “What are your two words?”

“I quit!” said the man.

“Well,” the head monk replied, “I am not surprised. You have done nothing but complain ever since you got here!”

Don Lemon:

Don Lemon has two words for people who say it’s not the time to talk about gun violence in America: “Shut up.”

After Wednesday’s mass shooting at a South Florida high school, the “CNN Tonight” host said that compared to other countries, America was “off the charts” when it came to this kind of violence. And that meant we have to talk about guns.

“You can save it. People who are saying, ‘Oh, y’know, it’s not the time to talk about guns’ or whatever,” Lemon said in a clip posted online by Raw Story. “Yes, it is. Shut up. I don’t want to hear it. It absolutely is.”

Lemon said the one thing that sets America apart was its easy access to guns, including people who shouldn’t be allowed to have firearms:

“So don’t tell me that it’s not time to talk about it. You talk to those people down in Florida who lost their loved ones. They’ll tell you it’s time to talk about it. ‘My loved one would be here if this shooter did not have access to an assault-style rifle.’”

New photos!

One shoe.

Lost scarf.

More bananas.

Yogi Tea.

Great book.

Hope quote.

Emily Dickinson!

“Hope” is the thing with feathers – (314)

BY EMILY DICKINSON

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

Two songs.

 

Any comments?

Thank you!

Day 1031: Hope

I hope I can express, in my first post about hope, how important hope is for human beings who struggle, cope, bruise, and heal.

I hope you understand that I’m saying that hope is important to all of us.

Hope is:

• a word that comes up in therapy, every day.
• something I hold for every person I encounter.
• according to Emily Dickinson, “the thing with feathers.”

I hope you don’t mind if I include that entire Emily Dickinson poem, here.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers – (314)
BY EMILY DICKINSON
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

I hope you see the hope in today’s photos.

I hope I am healthy and you are, too.

I hope you enjoy today’s music!

I hope you share thoughts, feelings, and music about hope, below.

Hopeful thanks to Emily Dickinson, to Frank Sinatra, to children everywhere, to Foxes and Fossils, to Crosby Stills & Nash (for creating “Helplessly Hoping“), to people who hope to heal, and to you — of course! — for reading this post and liking it (I hope).