Yesterday, in a group therapy workshop titled Living Improv: Using Improvisation to Access the Group Here and Now, the leaders — Elizabeth Ehrenberg and Ali Kimmel — facilitated an exercise where we could do certain actions and use particular phrases in a circle. At one point, they added the option of repeating “I own this town” while putting your thumbs through imaginary suspenders and strutting through the circle, with everyone else getting out of your way. I couldn’t wait to own that and whenever I got a chance, I stuck my thumbs out, chanted “I own this town! I own this town!” and strutted my way to wherever I wanted to be. I own that I loved doing that and I own that I loved how the other group members appreciated the way I did it. Somebody said, “You wear that so well.”
I own this blog and I’ll say this: I wish that people would
own what they want to do and say and
own the consequences of their speech and their actions.
I own these photos!
I own this: When I was owning homesickness on my first day in Houston, I connected with Maurice at Starbucks in the Galleria Mall. Yesterday morning, I owned the wish to say goodbye to him on my last day at the group therapy conference and I owned the presence of mind to ask somebody in line to take that photo of the two of us. She and I later owned our astonishment when she was a presenter of a group workshop I attended 15 minutes later!
I don’t own this music but I own how well it fits today’s post.
If you have any thoughts or feelings about this blog, please own them in a comment below.
I own my thanks to all who helped me own what I wanted to share today and — of course! — to YOU, for your attention to this blogging town.
When I was in my early 20’s, somebody did something that can still paralyze me with disbelief. When I told her where I went to school, she argued with my memories of the experience, telling me that women and men went to separate classes and lived in separate dorms. I kept trying to explain to her that her misconceptions were based on old information, but she persisted in insisting that her opinions were correct. Finally, I said to her, “Where did you get this information? Did somebody tell you this?” She nodded her head.
I paused, looked her in the eye, and said:
Well ……. (eye contact) THEY WERE WRONG.
And that stopped her.
Yesterday, I spoke with my boyfriend on the phone, who informed me that because of a “historic storm” off the coast of New England, he had watched flood waters come up our street and surround our home near the ocean. While the flood waters had receded, leaving behind a few inches of water in the basement, he was particularly concerned that, as everybody was forecasting, the upcoming high tide around midnight would be even worse. My strong and reassuring boyfriend was panicked, believing that he and the cats would need to be removed from our home. We agreed that I would call him after I attended a dance party at my group therapy convention in Houston — a city that is still traumatized by recent catastrophic flooding.
I called Michael shortly after 11 PM Houston time. ringing his cell phone because the landline had been knocked out. He answered the phone.
Me: How are things, honey?
Michael: I’m in the basement. I’m afraid to look. I’m waiting for the flood waters to rush in here.
Me: Why don’t you go upstairs and see what’s happening?
(the sounds of Michael going upstairs so he can see what’s going on with the sea).
Michael: Wow.
Me: What’s going on?
Michael: There’s no flooding. Maybe it’s not high tide yet.
Me: Do you want me to check the time of the high tide?
Michael: Please. There’s no internet.
Me: High tide is at 12:09 AM.
Michael: Oh my god. It’s 12:20 here.
So, this is what I would say about all the meteorologists and news reports that the second high tide was going to be more destructive than the first one.
Well …. THEY WERE WRONG.
Has anybody told you that climate change does not exist?
Well …. THEY WERE WRONG.
Did anybody, when you were a kid, tell you there was something wrong with you?
Well …. THEY WERE WRONG.
Has anybody ever denied your own experience?
Well… THEY WERE WRONG.
Did anybody ever tell you that you didn’t have what it takes to pursue your passion and your dreams?
Well… THEY WERE WRONG.
Did anybody ever tell you that you had to squelch your feelings and live inauthentically?
Well… THEY WERE WRONG.
Has anybody ever treated you with disrespect?
Well … THEY WERE WRONG.
When I was in my teens, dealing with a heart condition, doctors told me I would never be able to have kids.
Well… THEY WERE WRONG.
Could we say, “Well … THEY WERE WRONG” about any of my photos from yesterday?
Somebody told me I wouldn’t be able to stay to the end of today’s 2 PM workshop about Group Therapy and Improv because I’d need to leave early to make it to the airport in time for my flight home to Boston.
Well …. THEY WERE WRONG.
Was anybody wrong to shoot this video? Am I wrong to post it?
Here‘s The Innovation Dance Company performing “THEY WERE WRONG” at a national dance competition in Las Vegas.
Has anybody ever told you that you shouldn’t comment on a blog because other people might attack you for your opinions? Well …
Thanks to all who helped me create this “Well … THEY WERE WRONG” post and — of course! — to you, for not being wrong.
Because I am participating in an inspired group therapy conference with other inspired group therapists, I am inspired to make this blog post short today.
Because I affiliate myself with a blog that often defines terms, here are some definitions of “affiliate”:
af·fil·i·ate
verb
əˈfilēˌāt
1. officially attach or connect (a subsidiary group or a person) to an organization.
“the college is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin”
synonyms: associate with, unite with, combine with, join (up) with, link up with, team up with, ally with, align with, band together with, federate with, amalgamate with, merge with; More
noun
əˈfilēət
1. a person or organization officially attached to a larger body.
“the company established links with British affiliates”
synonyms: partner, branch, offshoot, subsidiary
affiliated; affiliating
transitive verb
1 a : to bring or receive into close connection as a member or branch. “The medical school is affiliated with a hospital.”
b : to associate as a member. ” She affiliates herself with the local club.”
2 : to trace the origin of. “They affiliated Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” to earlier plays.”
intransitive verb
: to connect or associate oneself : combine. “She refused to affiliate with any political party.”
I am officially attached and connected to a national organization of group psychotherapists which has multiple local affiliates. Therefore, today I am associating, uniting, combining, joining, up, linking up, teaming up, allying, aligning, banding together, federating, amalgamating, and merging with representatives of other local affiliates for many hours in Houston, Texas, a state affiliated with the United States of America.
Are any of today’s blog-affiliated photos good representations of “affiliate”?
There are many children’s book characters affiliated with Massachusetts.
That skating rink is affiliated with the Galleria Mall in Houston — an unexpected affiliation to me.
Since you are affiliating yourself with this blog today, how might you use “affiliate” in a sentence?
Thanks to all who helped me create this post now affiliated with The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally and — of course! — thanks to YOU, no matter how you affiliate yourself.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 