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.
two retreats about group therapy on Saturday and Sunday.
While looking forward to events in the future can help one feel hope, it can also trigger worry and fears about that future, like “Is this too much?” “Will all these activities next week interfere in my self care?” “Will the absence of the late Walter Becker get in the way of my really enjoying the Steely Dan concert?” “What’s the weather going to be like?” “Am I ready for November?” and “Where the hell am I going to park?”
The cure for future-oriented fears is refocusing on the present moment. And in this moment, I have several new photos to share with you.
To make this my day, my way, I’d like to revisit and clarify one difficult-to-read photo above:
History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.
What’s freaking me out is what I’m letting in.
I see no good reason to be wearing a grin.
Noises begin and reach a painful din.
What’s freaking me out is what I’m letting in.
Yesterday, when I was looking for a birthday card for my long-time friend and ex-co-worker Debbie T., I saw this:
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if YOU could believe that every day was YOU day?
YOU might be interested to know that yesterday was Debbie T.’s birthday celebration day, as well as a day filled with other excitement. Actually, I was so excited to see Debbie in person after many years and also her beeeooootifull home, that I took very few pictures at the birthday party.
YOU, Debbie (because I know YOU read this blog), were the perfect host yesterday. Thank YOU for introducing me to everybody at YOUr party (who all obviously love YOU) and for being so excited about my upcoming show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!
I’m not sure if YOU heard all the puns being thrown around yesterday, including this one:
Have YOU heard about the new corduroy pillows? They’re making headlines.
What do YOU see in all the pictures that I did take yesterday? Let’s see if YOU can spot any unusual creatures (YOU might have to look closely).
Hugs to all of YOU and can YOU guess which card I gave Debbie? Which picture did YOU like best? Also, did YOU spot that dog-like creature being dive-bombed by snowy egrets on the marsh near my home? I thought it was a fox, but somebody told me it was too big to be a fox. What do YOU think it was?
Yesterday at work, I went to a meeting that aspired to be the best meeting of my life.
However, it was NOT the best meeting of my life. It was not even the best meeting of my DAY, because there were two meetings of my Coping and Healing therapy groups after that work meeting.
Because I am lucky enough to facilitate five therapy group meetings every week, the meetings of my life keep getting better and better.
I don’t think these are the best photographs of my life, but I’m sharing them anyway:
Are those the best photos of Harley’s life? There have been so many great ones …
… it’s difficult to say.
Tonight, I may have the best Open Mic of my life. Time will tell.
Are you going to make the best comment of your life?
One of the best things in my life is looking for ways to express gratitude, so thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to YOU.
Yesterday morning, when I was writing my second Letter from the President for the Northeastern Society for Group Psychotherapy (NSGP) newsletter, my boyfriend Michael started talking in his sleep. Michael sometimes talks in his sleep in the mornings, but I can never hear what he’s saying. It doesn’t help that he mumbles while sleep-talking. Yesterday, he said
“ASK FOR HELP!” was so loud and clear that it startled me and the cats. Inspired by that message from the sleeping Michael, I immediately sent my latest version of my Letter from the President to a helpful friend and NSGP board member, and asked for her help in reviewing what I’d written. It really helped that I asked for help that way, because (1) she was very positive and helpful in her feedback and (2) this morning I restarted my computer and would have completely lost all my latest work if I hadn’t sent her that draft.
As Michael said, ASK FOR HELP!
I heard “ASK FOR HELP!” in my head yesterday as I looked for helpful images to capture and share. You don’t have to ask me to include them here and now.
Right before I took that last photo, I heard many cat noises coming from inside our house, so I asked for Michael’s help in identifying them. Since I asked for help, he showed me this video:
Those hungry cats were asking for help, and they got it.
After our long walk near the seashore yesterday, I received an email about Open Mic’s around Boston. Because it helps to practice my original songs, I asked for help in signing up for a slot tomorrow night.
Last night, Michael and I had dinner with my friend and co-worker Alice and her husband (not pictured). I said, “I think Alice and I have the female equivalent of a bromance. I wonder what that’s called?” Later, I asked for help in identifying that term. Would you like to ask for help in discovering what that word is?
When I’m petty, I feel guilty. When I observe other people being petty, I get scared, because I’ve observed pettiness wreaking havoc with relationships.
Here’s a definition of petty:
pet·ty
/ˈpedē/
adjective
1. of little importance; trivial.
“the petty divisions of party politics”
synonyms: trivial, trifling, minor, small, slight, unimportant, insignificant, inessential, inconsequential, inconsiderable, negligible, paltry, footling, fiddling, niggling, pettifogging, nugatory, of little account
2. of secondary or lesser importance, rank, or scale; minor.
“a petty official”
My personal goal for today is to make other people being petty of little importance, trivial, minor, small, slight, insignificant, inconsequential, and negligible to me.
Reproof should not exhaust its power on petty failings. — Samuel Johnson
More than jealousy or possessiveness pettiness kills love. — Marty Rubin
Don’t be afraid of failure; be afraid of petty success. — Maude Adams
Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out — it’s the grain of sand in your shoe. — Robert Service
The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not to be swayed by petty doubts. — Sun Tzu
The constant petty behests of life permit few opportunities for major satisfactions, and when one is offered it should be seized. — Rex Stout
Petty things don’t bother me as much as they used to — Rebecca Lobo
Mankind accepts good fortune as his due, but when bad occurs, he thinks it was aimed at him, done to him, a hex, a curse, a punishment by his deity for some transgression, as though his god were a petty storekeeper, counting up the day’s receipts. — Sheri S. Tepper
It is better to lose everything you have to keep the balance of justice level, than to live a life of petty privilege devoid of true freedom. — Bryant H. McGill
Beware of those who attribute petty instructions to God. — Abdul Sattar Edhi
Sometimes, when I assume there’s a right thing to do (even when I’m not sure what it is) and especially when I hear other people adamantly disagreeing about what that right thing is, I look like Santa and his reindeer on that greeting card. Then, I pick myself up and try again.
Now I’m recalculating how to order the rest of my photos from yesterday.
As usual, I recalculated the order of those photos several times.
