Day 2914: Religion

No matter what your opinions are about religion, ‘tis the season when religion is all around.

I have mixed feelings about religion. I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household and have observed many benefits of religion, including life-organizing traditions, strong family and social connections, important moral codes, explanations for troubling questions, and sustenance and comfort during darkest days. I’ve also observed, throughout my life, how many people have been hurt and divided by religion.

Whatever our religions are, I think we can agree that people have very strong feelings about religion. My son, who grew up with a lapsed Orthodox Jewish mother and a lapsed Roman Catholic father, once upset a librarian in the children’s room of our local library by asking her what her religion was. This was around the time when Aaron was formulating that God might be a giant goose and we had noticed children’s books about religion in the library that day, so I think he was just honestly curious about her experience. He and I were both taken aback by her obvious discomfort and annoyance, so I quietly explained to him that religion could be a sensitive subject for some people.

Yesterday, my son, my ex-husband Leon, my husband Michael, and I were discussing another sensitive subject — politics — trying to make sense of Trump’s appeal to millions of people, wondering if religion played a part in that, also.

Do you see religion in today’s images?

If you had to answer any questions about religion, would you choose to answer the ones included in this blog post?

When I search YouTube for “religion,” this comes up:

So does this:

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Colbert — despite their differences about religion — share a great gratitude for existence and so do I. Thanks to all who helped me create this post about religion, including YOU!

Day 2866: Living with uncertainty

Living with uncertainty is very difficult, yet we do it every day. Certainty is often an illusion — a denial of mortality and the constant changes we are barely aware of.

Here and now, as we live with the uncertainties of the pandemic and the results of the USA election, the level of uncertainty is very difficult to live with. I’m certain how this uncertainty is affecting me, my family, my friends, and my patients:

• insomnia,
• changes in appetite,
• stress eating,
• anger,
• hopelessness,
• helplessness,
• worry,
• anxiety,
• depression,
• lack of motivation,
• a reversion to old unhelpful habits,
• withdrawal,
• fear,
• catastrophizing,
• blaming,
• all-or-nothing thinking,
• mind-reading, and
• the rest of the cognitive distortions (which I’m certain you can find here).

I’m uncertain how I and millions of other people are going to live with so much uncertainty in the days ahead.

In a sea of uncertainty, I’m certain that routines — like daily blogging — help. I’m certain I have new images to share but I’m uncertain exactly what they are.

I’m certain that I felt less uncertainty about the future when I took those photos than I’m feeling now.

Here‘s “The Courage to Live with Radical Uncertainty” — a Ted Talk given by “Compassion-Driven Oncologist Shekinah Elmore” in March 2020, right before our current age of uncertainty.

Here‘s “Coping with Uncertainty” by MindTools Videos:

What are your thoughts and feelings about living with uncertainty?

No matter how I’m living with uncertainty, I’m certainly grateful to all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.

Day 2844: Ghosts

According to Merriam Webster, a ghost is …

1: the seat of life or intelligence : SOUL
“give up the ghost”
2: a disembodied soul
especially : the soul of a dead person believed to be an inhabitant of the unseen world or to appear to the living in bodily likeness
3: SPIRIT, DEMON
4a: a faint shadowy trace
a ghost of a smile
b: the least bit
“not a ghost of a chance”
5: a false image in a photographic negative or on a television screen caused especially by reflection
6: one who ghostwrites
7: a red blood cell that has lost its hemoglobin

These days, it’s looking like the current U.S. President does not have a ghost of a chance to get a second term. Those of us who almost gave up the ghost four years ago when he WAS elected — despite polls saying he had not a ghost of a chance back then — are barely showing ghosts of smiles about the possible outcome.

I know that some of his supporters might call me a snowflake, but I have felt haunted since November, 2016, inhabiting this world like a ghost of my former self. When I look at the posts I’ve written since then, I see faint shadowy traces of the spirit I had before. However, it’s never been so bad that I’ve considered getting a ghostwriter for this blog.

Also, many of us feel haunted by ghosts that others just do not see.

What ghosts do you see in my photos from yesterday?

Among others, I see the ghosts of Oscar the cat, the people who have been killed by gun violence, trust in our leaders, and the normalcy of our lives before the pandemic.

Also, that last photo shows the ghost of a blog post I considered writing for today — “Day 2881: Grains of salt.” There are many ghosts of posts never written in my draft folder and in my mind, but those don’t haunt me, perhaps because so many posts have seen the light of day.

Here is “Ghosts” — the new song by the very-much-alive Bruce Springsteen:

Thanks to all my readers for not ghosting me over the years!

Day 2703: It’s hard to see

It’s hard to see …

• when this pandemic will end,
• so many people ignoring social distancing rules,
• all the deaths from COVID-19,
• relief from the suffering,
• all the social injustice,
• when you have tears in your eyes,
• all obstacles in our way,
• the beauty of each moment,
• into another’s heart,
• the inappropriate behaviors of world leaders,
• the state of the world,
• who is going to save us,
• what people are really thinking,
• what animals are really thinking,
• when you’re overwhelmed,
• when you’re looking away,
• when so many things are hidden,
• when there are so many different perspectives,
• when your glasses fog up, and
• when the world is foggy.

In case it’s hard to see what’s going on in this photo …

… all but one of the balloons at CVS yesterday were masked. I said to Michael, “There’s one in every crowd.”

It’s hard to see any song I like on YouTube called “It’s Hard to See,” so here is “It’s Hard to be Human” by Kina Grannis instead.

It’s not hard to see why people would write these comments about that song:

Emma Anderson
6 days ago
Kina Grannis: The singer to soothe the nation.

Jasmine Her
6 days ago
I feel this song so much. I had literally been through a horrible rut since quarantine began. I’m starting to finally feel okay, trying to learn and grow.

Tabitha S-O
6 days ago
Well, I’ve been crying for a bit listening to this but it’s ok to feel my feelings

It’s hard to see how so many people don’t know it’s ok to feel their feelings.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know it’s not hard to see gratitude here.

Day 2696: Go back to your dreams.

If you go back to my previous blogs, you’ll find

• many posts about dreams (going back to here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) and
• that I have trouble going back to sleep when I wake up too early, which I almost always do.

Last night, I woke up too early (AGAIN!) and I was able to go back to sleep by reciting this phrase to myself, over and over:

Go back to your dreams.

Now, I shall go back to all the photos I took yesterday, to see if there are any dreams there.

Oscar could only dream about eating that flounder last night.

Go back to YouTube if you want to find the official music video of “Dreams” by The Cranberries:

 

Now I have to go back to another Zoom-y meeting — this one with my fellow behavioral health workers, in which we will discuss our dreams of going back to work in person.

My dream is that going back to gratitude will help us achieve our dreams.

Day 2290: Special Attention

If you’ve paid special attention to this daily blog, you might know that I wrote two posts about attention in my first year of blogging (Day 31: The Effect of Attention and Day 319: Paying attention) and one additional post about attention a year ago.

Why am I writing about special attention today?

That “SPECIAL ATTENTION” tag is from a dry cleaner, informing me that they gave special attention to a stain on a silk skirt but were unable to remove it.  When I picked up the skirt yesterday, I said to them, “Thanks for giving this special attention.  We all need special attention sometimes.”

When you pay special attention to that last sentence, do you agree that we all need special attention sometimes?  When do you need special attention?  How do you get that special attention when you need it?  Do you ask for it? Or do you hope that special people will know that you need it without your asking?

I’ve been giving special attention to my second letter from the President for my professional organization’s newsletter. I’ve been working on that special letter for days and no matter how much special attention I give it, I don’t like what I’m writing. Maybe I’m giving it too much special attention.

When I have special trouble writing or completing other special tasks, I especially take  breaks and turn my attention elsewhere. Which of my latest photos deserve your special attention?

I’ll be paying special attention to a podcast about coronary heart disease because it’s my first appearance on a podcast! Firsts are always special. I don’t have coronary heart disease but I did ask some questions about my special heart condition.

Here’s “Special Attention” by Ambelique.

I hope you know I’ll be giving special attention to your comments for this “special attention” post.

Special thanks to all who helped me create today’s special post and — OF COURSE! — YOU.

Day 2150: Animals

In two thousand, one hundred, and fifty days of daily blogging, I’ve never written a post with “animals” in the title. That seems strange to this blogging animal, since there are so many animals in my blog posts.

What animals will be inside my post today?

Here are some musical animals …

… and more here.

Feel free to make animal noises in the comments section, below.

I wonder what animals feel gratitude? I know I do, so thanks to all the animals who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to YOU!

Day 1878: What does P.T. stand for?

P.T. stands for Physical Therapy for Partially Torn rotator cuffs, like mine.

P.T. also stands for the Painkiller Tramadol, Perhaps Taken Prior to Therapy Proceeding Today.

What else does P.T. stand for?

Photos Taken!

Psychotherapy Themes, Projected Thusly:

Positive Therapy:

Podiatric Therapy:

Posted Tips:

Perfectionism Tempered:

Panoramic Tableau:

Prepared Treats for Pescatarian Tastes:

P.T. also stands for President Trump and Piano Tickler Paul Tobey Playing This Peanuts Theme.

Personal Thoughts?  Please Transcribe.

Passionate Thanks to Paul Tobey and Primarily To People Taking Precious Time to Perceptively Try this P.T. Post Today (including YOU).

Day 1829: Worry vs. Planning

I didn’t plan to write about this today, but no worries.

In therapy, we often talk about reducing worry. A lot of people believe that worry is an essential part of planning. They confuse worry with planning and have trouble separating the two.

I suggest to people that

• you can plan without worrying and
• worry doesn’t help with anything, including planning.

Yesterday, we made a list of Worry vs. Planning:

I wasn’t planning to put that list in this blog so I didn’t write neatly.  I’m not worrying about that.

You might not have planned to think about this today, but what do you think are the differences between worry and planning?

Here are some other unplanned photos from yesterday:

 

 

 

I didn’t plan on sleeping late this morning, but I did.  I’m not going to worry about that, either. I’m just going to quickly find a video for this post, publish it, and get ready for work.

 

I always plan to thank everybody who helps me create these posts and who reads them. These days, I’m not worrying about how I express my gratitude — I just do it.

Day 1815: This year has been ____ .

How would you fill in the blank in today’s title?

This is my choice:

This year has been nuts.  I decided that even before I saw  today’s headline:

Confusion and chaos ahead as new tax rules take immediate effect.

Confusion and chaos ahead?  What about all the confusion and chaos we’ve experienced this year already?  All this confusion and chaos is

To distract myself from the confusion, the chaos and the nuts, I took these other photos yesterday.

I also distracted myself yesterday by talking to Karen, who was  our neighbor before we moved near the ocean.  She told me this story:

This friend of mine,  who is a wonderful cook, sent invitations for a dinner that was “Soup to Nuts.”  I was expecting the best meal ever.  When we got there, there was soup, different kinds of soup, and nothing else.  She was serving soup to nuts and we were the nuts!

If you search for “nuts” on Youtube, you might find this video:

Thanks to all who helped me not go nuts this year, including my boyfriend, my family, my friends, my co-workers, my cats, and — of course! — YOU.