Day 1798: Value

If you value blog posts about values, you might value this, this, and/or this.

If you value my photos, here’s the first one I took yesterday:

If you value definitions, here’s one:

val·ue
ˈvalyo͞o
noun
1.  the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
“your support is of great value”
synonyms: worth, usefulness, advantage, benefit, gain, profit, good, help, merit, helpfulness, avail
2. a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life.
“they internalize their parents’ rules and values”
synonyms: principles, ethics, moral code, morals, standards, code of behavior
“society’s values are passed on to us as children”
verb
1. estimate the monetary worth of (something).
“his estate was valued at $45,000”
synonyms: evaluate, assess, estimate, appraise, price, put/set a price on
“his estate was valued at $345,000”
2. consider (someone or something) to be important or beneficial; have a high opinion of.
“she had come to value her privacy and independence”
synonyms: think highly of, have a high opinion of, hold in high regard, rate highly, esteem, set (great) store by, put stock in, appreciate, respect

 

Is there anything you particularly value about that definition?  I notice the very different values of the estates in those examples. I do not value people based on the size of their estates. Do you?

Now that the tax bill has passed both chambers of the U.S. Congress, it’s clear that their values are very different from mine.

Do you see value in my other photos from yesterday?

I have sustainable love for this valuable song from Newsies, which cheered me up yesterday.

Finally, here’s a quote I value from that definition of value, above:

“your support is of great value”

Day 915: Look at me!

Before I got my current job as a psychotherapist at a major teaching hospital in Boston, I worked for 12 years at a group-oriented  psychiatric day program — first as a clinician and then as the director.

Look at me! I’ve been a group therapist for over 16 years!

The staff at the psychiatric day program often noticed something we called

See me/Don’t see me

Here are other ways I’d describe that very common, human way of behaving, right now:

• Fear of being exposed
• Yearning for attention/fear of attention
• Accepting parts of self/rejecting others
• Trying new and unfamiliar things/the shame reaction
• I deserve attention/I am not worthy of it

See me/Don’t see me, in this post!  I already have mixed feelings about how I’m writing it.

Look at me! I’m digressing from the big news of this July 4, 2105 blog post.  Yesterday,  I had the day off from work and I went to see the musical Newsies in Boston. 

Look at me! I’m in Harvard Square, on my way to Newsies. 

  

   

Look at me! I took a picture of Peet’s in Harvard Square, where my bf Michael and I first looked at each other five years ago  (after writing each other daily for two months online at OkCupid). 
Look at me, back on my way to see Newsies!

  
  

  

  
  
      

Look at John! He’s one of the security guys at the Boston Opera House. He used to work as a parole officer and he told me, “My wife tells me to smile in pictures, but I say, ‘That hurts!'”

Look at me,  at yesterday’s matinee performance of Newsies!

  

Look at me showing you how the lead role of Jack Kelly (played by Christian Bale in the 1992 film) was performed  by an understudy, Michael Ryan.

Look at me! I don’t have any pictures of Michael Ryan and how AMAZING he was, including his grateful tears when we all gave him a standing ovation at the end of the show.

Look at these photos I took on my way back home, after seeing Newsies:

  
  

  

Look at me! I just spent an hour looking for this video made 8 years ago by three girls in the United Kingdom, performing “King of New York,” my favorite song from Newsies:

If you look at that video on YouTube, you’ll see that I wrote a comment four years ago, and they answered me!

Look at me! I forgot to mention that “King of New York” includes the line

Look at me! I’m the King of New York.

Look at all these people performing “King of New York”!

Look at you! What do you think of this post today? Look at me —  as usual,  I’m looking for comments.

Thanks to everybody I’ve ever worked with in group therapy, to Newsies, to Michael, to OkCupid, to security guy  John, to understudy/star Michael Ryan, to Harvard Square, to Boston, to all those  who have ever sung or danced to “King of New York,” to all the kings, queens, princes, and princesses I saw in Cambridge and Boston yesterday, and special thanks to you — of course! — for looking here, today.