Day 3721: International Day of Awesomeness

Happy International Day of Awesomeness, you awesome person you!

I’ll be celebrating the awesomeness of this day at an awesome group therapy conference in the awesome city of NYC with other awesome group therapists.

I just described myself as an awesome group therapist because

• International Awesomeness Day (according to the awesome National Day website) “is a day where anybody, no matter who they are, may celebrate their awesomeness” and
• I am.

Do you see awesomeness in my images for today?

Isn’t that awesome?

To celebrate International Awesomeness Day, here is an awesome song:

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Awesome thanks to all who help me celebrate the awesomeness of life every day, including YOU.

Day 3242: That was then, this is now

My son and I are in New York City now. The last time I was in New York City, in March 2020, I was attending a group therapy conference, which was the week before everything closed down here. Several of us attending that conference then, including me, got COVID.

That was then, this is now.

Last night, Aaron and I went to Junior’s, the restaurant I went to every day then, during the week-long March 2020 group therapy conference. After I discovered I had COVID, I texted my server Rhys (who I had put in my blog back then) …

… with concern, telling him I had COVID and wondering if he was okay. He was fine, but he and everybody else at Junior’s had been laid off then, as everything in NYC had closed down.

That was then …

… this is now.

When I was here in March 2020, I took photos of the Ed Sullivan Theatre then because I love Stephen Colbert.

That was then, this is now, when I have a ticket to see the Late Show with Stephen Colbert during this trip.

Do you see then and now in my other images for today?

My TED talk about then and now might be titled “Everything Old Is New Again.” And there’s no way I’m checking my wipers now — my car is back in Boston because we took the train. And I never eat fast food, then or now, when I’m in New York City!

This is what I find on YouTube when I search for “that was then, this is now.”

I was a big fan of the Monkees back then, but I feel like I’m hearing this song for the first time now.

Now I am looking forward to your comments about this that-was-then-this-is-now post.

Then and now, I am grateful to all who accompany me in these blogging adventures, including YOU.

Day 2623: We really don’t know how we affect other people

Two thousand, five hundred, and five days ago (but who’s counting?), I wrote another blog post with the same title as this one.

We really don’t know how we affect other people.

Rhys — the welcoming, perceptive, kind, aware, attentive, versatile, soulful, generous,  and lovable server at Junior’s restaurant in New York City — really didn’t know how he affected me until I published yesterday’s blog post (and today’s!).

I really didn’t know how I affected Rhys until he showed me his instagram account yesterday and asked to get some pictures with me yesterday.

I really don’t know how I affect other people by sharing thoughts and images here, including these:

I’ve encountered so many people during my experience at this year’s American Group Psychotherapy Association conference. They really don’t know how they affected me, which was profoundly.

Perhaps McCoy Tyner, the incredible jazz pianist who died yesterday, didn’t really know how he affected other people.  Here‘s one of the most affecting pieces of music I’ve ever heard (performed live in Berlin in 1990):

Here‘s the recording of “Fly with the Wind” which has affected me for decades:

Here‘s another incredible piece from the same album:

We really don’t know how we affect other people unless we tell each other. I want to tell you how I grateful I am for all of you, every day.

Day 2622: I’m glad you exist

I’m glad you exist.

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I’m glad my awesome bass-playing dentist, who sent me the message below, exists.

I’m glad I exist and could read this message from my dentist:

You’re doing something great and I’m glad you exist

I’m glad Rhys — the wonderfully welcoming, kind, and perceptive server at Junior’s in Times Square — exists.

I’m glad my iPhone exists so I could take all these other photos yesterday.

I’m glad hope exists in so many places.

Here’s “I’m Glad You Exist” by Nateybeats:

I’m glad the comments section on this blog exists, below.

I’m glad gratitude exists, everywhere I look.

Day 2620: New York Attitude

Do you see a New York attitude in my photos from yesterday?

At West Side Story last night, the guy sitting next to me told me his wife wouldn’t go to the theater for fear of catching the coronavirus. I’m not sure what my attitude is about that.

What’s your attitude, here and now?

My attitude, as always, is gratitude.

Day 2619: Something’s Coming

Something’s coming. What’s coming?

Super Tuesday, some super things made by my friend and fellow group therapist Jenn …

… some other things from our first day at the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) conference,

… some delicious things at two NYC restaurants, fears about the coronavirus, the coronavirus, new habits and behaviors because of the coronavirus, and “Something’s Coming” from the new production of West Side Story (which I’m seeing tonight at the Broadway Theater across from our hotel).

 

Something’s coming in the comments section, I assume.

Finally, something’s coming and it’s gratitude that we’re all still alive, as always.