Day 2497: Feeling left out

So you won’t be feeling left out, I want to explain the meaning of today’s blog title.

In yesterday’s therapy group, people wanted to focus on the topic of feeling left out.   By the end of the group, several  people had noticed the irony that feeling left out is such a universal and common human experience. Chances are, when you’re feeling left out, others are too, even if they don’t show it. I didn’t want to be leaving out this helpful reminder:

Don’t compare your insides to other people’s outsides.

In the group, we all wrote and/or drew about our personal experiences of feeling left out.  Here’s my “Feeling Left Out” poem:

If you’re having trouble reading that, please don’t be feeling left out — I’m sure you are not alone.  Here’s “Feeling Left Out” by me.

When I feel left out

I’m afraid to shout

“I feel left out!”

What is that about?

There must be shame

That’s the feeling I’ll name

Feeling left out of a game

Or anything else can affect me the same.

I doubt my worth

Been doing that since birth

If I feel left out

I have no doubt.

What helps with this?

It doesn’t miss

If I do self care

Compliment myself if I dare

Be brave enough to share

And emerge from my lair.

I don’t want my other photos from yesterday to be feeling left out, so here they are:

Nobody seemed to be feeling left out at the Steely Dan concert last night; even the police there were singing along to the songs. So that those of us missing the late Walter Becker wouldn’t be feeling left out, Donald Fagen thanked him at the end of the show.

When I search YouTube for “feeling left out steely dan,” the first song they performed last night immediately pops up:

If you sign in and leave a comment below, your thoughts won’t be feeling left out.

I don’t want gratitude to be feeling left out, so thanks to all who help me not leave out any feelings here on WordPress, including YOU.

Day 2304: May this day be the day

May this day be the day to lead us to peace, to happiness and to joy.

May this day be the day where all my photos are relevant to my title.

May this day be the day that Michael makes another delicious meal for me.

May this day be the day that I share a great song with you.

May this day be the day you listen to “Beautiful Day” by The Levellers featuring Imelda May.

May this day be the day I express my gratitude to all who helped me create another daily post and — of course! — to YOU, for your time and effort on this day.

Day 2215: What am I?

“What am I?” recently showed up on my office white board.

What am I that I didn’t write the discussed follow-up to that question: “Chopped liver?”

What am I if I don’t explain that “What am I?  Chopped liver?” is a way some people express feeling expendable, unappreciated, and less-than.

What am I if I don’t link to this entry from knowyourphrase.com and quote this from there?

WHAT AM I, CHOPPED LIVER?

Meaning:

A rhetorical question used by a person who feels they are being given less attention or consideration than someone else.

Synonyms: None.

Origin Of ‘What Am I, Chopped Liver?’
​The origin of this phrase is not really clear. I have, however, heard of two theories that may indicate how this expression came to be. The first is that liver is not always viewed on the same level as others foods. For example, if a person is cooking a chicken, they’ll oftentimes throwaway the giblets, you know, like the liver or gizzard. Or instead of throwing the giblets away, the person will cook them, not for themselves, but for their pets to eat. Hence, since liver is not usually as desirable to eat as other foods, the expression might spring from such an idea.

Another explanation, as Wikipedia explains, is that “chopped liver was traditionally served as a side dish rather than a main course.” So the idea would be that sometimes, a person might feel like their thoughts or feelings are not being considered as fully as they should, so they feel like they are being treated as if they were a side dish.

Example Sentence(s)

1. Jake, a friend of mine, asked what my sister and I thought of his new clothes, but he seemed to specifically ignore my comments… what am I, chopped liver?

Have you read my similarly titled blog posts — Day 1313: Who am I? and Day 625: Where am I?  Why not?  What am I, chopped liver?

What are my photos, chopped liver?

 

What is that, chopped liver?  No, it’s delicious salmon, brussels sprouts, and quinoa.

What are these videos (found here and here)? Chopped liver?

What are you, chopped liver?  No, you are my valuable and much appreciated readers, so many thanks!

Day 2171: More than words

There are more than words in this daily blog — there are often photos, like this one:

I often see those words, and more, on my commute to work. Here are some words to describe More Than Words.

More Than Words is a nonprofit social enterprise that empowers youth who are in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.

There are more than words in this world, even for those of us who depend on words.  There are feelings,

facial expressions,

moments of reflection,

forgiveness,

consciousness, art,

human rights,  music,

and words that evoke more than words in us.

I have more than words for the International Human Rights Day Celebration that I witnessed last night after work. Here are more photos (and a video) of my co-worker Sterling and his daughter, sharing words and music with us.

Sterling (a/k/a Steis)  wrote “Lost for Words” after the violent death of a beloved cousin.   There are no words, but Sterling found some, to heal and move on.

If you leave words in a comment below, that is more than enough for me.

My gratitude for those who help me create these daily blog posts and for YOU is more than words can express, but I’ll try.

 

Day 2045: Priorities

It’s been over five years since I’ve written a post about priorities,  and writing another one is my priority today.

With the overwhelming amount of information and responsibilities that many of us have, setting priorities can be difficult.

For example, what are the priorities among all the headlines in my Google news feed? Let’s see.

Takeaways from day 5 of the Paul Manafort trial

California fires: 14,000 firefighters now battling 16 major blazes across state

West Hollywood passes resolution to remove President Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Star

In Chicago, One Weekend, 66 Shooting Victims, and Zero Arrests

Parkland school shooter told detective he heard a demon in his head, transcript shows

Armed bystander shot man who opened fire at a crowded Florida park

Former Nev. Senator Paul Laxalt dies at 96

Three employees of real estate company, two family members killed in California plane crash

Venezuela Is In Crisis But Its President Might Be Stronger For It

US economic sanctions against Iran are back in effect

Deadly Tanker Explosion on Italy Highway Causes Extensive Damage

Rand Paul invites Russian lawmakers to visit US

Judge in AT&T Case Ignored ‘Economics and Common Sense,’ Government Says

Facebook: Hey Can We Pretty Please Maybe Have Lots of Your Banking Information Too?

State media gives Google conditional welcome in China

Indra Nooyi’s Pepsi exit: Yet another female CEO replaced by a man

Google officially names Android 9 ‘Pie,’ rolling out to Pixels today and other devices this fall

2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt: What it’s like driving the car made famous by Steve McQueen

Dead Cells beginners guide

Microsoft adding support for Movies Anywhere, giving away free X-Men movie

The Bachelorette’s Becca Kufrin and Garrett Yrigoyen Speak Out on Instagram Controversy

Tristan Thompson Defends His Lunch With Mystery Woman To Khloe Kardashian

Shaun Weiss, actor who played Goldberg in The Mighty Ducks, arrested for public intoxication

Johnny Depp’s Notorious B.I.G.  Movie Pulled From Release Schedule

Don Lemon rips Trump over personal attack

Yankees finally getting their rotation trade prize back

Cleveland Browns: Baker Mayfield show to debut Thursday night

The 15 best 2018 fantasy football team names (that we could print)

Earth at risk of becoming ‘hothouse’ if tipping point reached, report warns

Massive rogue planet found lurking outside our solar system

SpaceX launch: Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

Incredible Hulk? Nah, This Glowing, Green Light in the Night Sky is a Comet

What Does It Mean To Be A Doctor With A Disability?

A Soviet-Era Fox Experiment May Finally Reveal The Genes Behind Domestication

“Snapchat dysmorphia”: Selfies, photo filters driving people to plastic surgery, doctors say

Mosquitos in Logan test positive for West Nile virus, officials say

I assume that, depending upon your priorities, your Google news feed might be prioritized differently.

My priorities, here and now, include letting you know that

1. The news item of the highest priority for me appears eighth from the bottom of that list and
2. Another personal top-priority news item (today’s special election in Ohio) doesn’t even show up in my Google news feed.

One of my priorities in this blog is including a YouTube video that connects to the post title:

 

Another one of my priorities for these daily blog posts is sharing my photos from the day before:

Obviously, my priorities today didn’t include repositioning any of those photos. However, my priorities always include thanking all who help me create these posts and — of course! — YOU!

Day 1956: This Way and That Way

These days, some people tell you it’s right to think and act this way

while other people  tell you it’s right to think and act that way.

In our way, there are so many ways that divide us.

My way is to celebrate life’s moments,

invite hope,

express myself,

work on stress,

 

promote self-forgiveness,

be smart,

help people reach their potential,

appreciate the arts,

accept the child and the adult,

walk past the news,

stay away from death,

deal with people leaving,

focus on our chances,

let go of worry about the future,

eat healthy meals,

look this way and that way on YouTube,

and express my gratitude, every day.

I’m thankful, here and now, that I can ask this community:  What’s your way?

Day 1926: Taking steps

Yesterday, I started taking steps for a fitness challenge where I work.  I’ve committed to taking at least 10,000 steps every day for the next month.

While I was taking steps yesterday, I was also taking pictures. Now I am taking steps to share those photos.

After taking more than 3,000 steps to get to my office, I took the step to indicate my mood on my new feeling chart.  If you take a few blogging steps back, you’ll see here (in the post Day 1923: Accepting all feelings) that the feeling chart is something people created in a therapy group last week. On Monday morning,  after taking all those steps, I was feeling hope.

After taking about 1,000 more steps at work, I took the step of completing a required online training  — “Security Smart: Keeping Yourself Safe in the Workplace — which included taking steps to deescalate when people are upset.

After taking steps to help many people with many problems (while taking approximately 2,000 more steps around the hospital), I took a step at the end of the day to temporarily change my mood chart.

I believe that taking steps to express and share feelings helps to deescalate those feelings.

After my long work day, I took 3,000 more steps to walk back to my car. At about 9 PM while I was taking steps at home, I reached my daily goal of taking 10,000 steps!

While I was taking steps yesterday, I heard “Steppin’ Out” sung by Kurt Elling.

 

Today, I’ll be taking steps to

• go to work,
• provide individual and group therapy at the Primary Care Practice of a Boston hospital,
• treat people with respect,
• listen to music I love, and
• gather photos for tomorrow’s blog.

If you’d like to take steps to leave a comment, please step down below this blog.

As always, I’m taking steps to express my gratitude to all who help me take the necessary steps to create this daily blog, including YOU.