Day 2916: Hands

Yesterday, when the wonderful hands of Mia from MiAlisa Salon were giving me a hands-down fabulous haircut, Mia told me about a beautiful way she has been self-soothing during these hard times. She holds her own hand.

Mia said that she held and held her mother’s hand in her hand while her mother was dying, and she misses her mother. Now, when she clasps her own two hands together, she feels powerfully comforted, settled, and anchored. Mia said holding hands with herself also helps her fall asleep.

I told Mia that I have been encouraging people in my Coping and Healing groups to give themselves hugs and that I will add clasping their own hands to the self-soothing repertoire.

And I am happy to report, this morning, that holding hands with myself helped me sleep through the night for the first time in months!

My sleep is also being helped by the growing certainty that my country will soon be in better hands. For the past four years, the USA has been in the hands of a toxic narcissist.

Speaking of hands, if anyone wants to see me play the ukulele with my own hands tomorrow evening, please sign up to be in the audience before the end of the day today using this link:

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/9040b4eadaa23a2f49-jamn15

As people continue to count ballots by hand, I’ll be singing “The Impossible Wait” to the tune of “The Impossible Dream.”

I took all of these photos using my hands. Can you spot the hands of Mia and my husband Michael?

Here is “Hands — A Song for Orlando” from four years ago, showing how hands can hurt and heal.

If you leave a comment with your hands, I will respond with my hands and my heart.

In this time of social distancing, please wash your hands and wear a mask. My hands go out to yours in gratitude, here and now.

Day 2791: Emotion recollected in tranquility

According to William Wordsworth (who wrote many worthy words), the origin of poetry is “emotion recollected in tranquility.”

I have emotions (including joy) about recollecting THAT,  sooooo many decades after learning it in college. I’m recollecting it today because of my recent personal experience  of having strong and upsetting emotions, letting time pass, recollecting those emotions in tranquility, and feeling resolute and happy about achievable next steps.

Therefore, I believe that emotion recollected in tranquility not only creates poetry but also creates paths to move forward through troubled times.  Instead of being so reactive to our emotions (especially anger and fear), let us recollect those feelings in tranquility to achieve wise mind (an overlap of emotional mind and logical mind).

Do you see emotion recollected in tranquility in my photos from yesterday?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In tranquility, today, I am recollecting the emotions I felt yesterday having my first restaurant meal since the pandemic began, with caution, with a new haircut, and with my long-time friend Deb.

Here‘s what comes up when I search for “emotion reflected in tranquility” on YouTube:

 

What are your emotions and thoughts about this emotion-reflected-in-tranquility post?

For me, emotion reflected in tranquility always results in gratitude, so thanks to all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.

 

 

 

Day 2611: Do you dream?

Do you dream?

I dream and last week I dreamt that I was supposed to give a talk that day about a Tom Hanks movie that was similar to the movie “Big” in that he was a child trapped in the body of an adult but it wasn’t “Big” and I couldn’t remember the name or details about the movie and I was giving this presentation in a few hours and I was very mad at myself that I hadn’t prepared better and then I woke up and I was VERY RELIEVED that the dream was not true.

My husband Michael dreams and very recently he had a dream where somebody spilled lots of “chicken juice” on the floor and he was trying to clean it up and the cats were nearby and he was afraid that they would lick it and get poisoned by bacteria and people including his old girlfriend kept walking through the chicken juice and spreading it all around and he woke up feeling VERY RELIEVED that the dream was not true.

I dream and last night I dreamt that I was at a party with Pete Buttigieg and my sister and I wanted to leave because I was very tired but people decided that before you left you had to go around to everybody there and have some sort of ritualized and elaborate goodbye and I wasn’t really paying attention to the details because I was so tired but the first person I said goodbye to was Tom Hanks and he helped me through the first goodbye, which included fist bumps and saying something that authentically captured and reflected your interactions with them during the evening and then I tried to say goodbye to a group of three people but they were distracted and I didn’t feel like interrupting them so I snuck out and went home and then I woke up and forgot about the dream until a few minutes ago.

I dream that sharing dreams helps us realize how connected we are, so that’s why we sometimes share dreams in my Coping and Healing groups.

“Do you dream?” is something I saw yesterday at MiAlisa Salon in Watertown.

Do you dream? I dream about a functioning adult becoming President of the United States in 2020. In the meantime, I expect I will have trouble sleeping and will continue to have anxiety dreams.

Here‘s a clip from the movie “Top Secret!” in which Val Kilmer is VERY RELIEVED when he wakes up from a classic dream:

 

Do you dream and do you have dreams similar to any of the dreams mentioned in today’s post?

I dream about all my readers knowing how much I appreciate them, every day.

 

Day 2380: The goods

Yesterday, as I was looking for

• a good haircut,
• good people,
• good conversation,
• good animals,
• good gifts,
• good places to hang,
• good books,
• good reflections,
• good walks,
• good advice,
• good neighbors,
• good memories,
• good homes,
• good puns,
• good food,
• good weather,
• good material for this blog,
• and other goods,

I encountered the word “good” (and other good words) several times. Can you find the goods in the good amount of photos that I took yesterday?

 

Did you spot the goods?

Good people who have been reading this blog for a good many years might have recognized our good neighbor Karen and her good dog, Faxy, among all the other good images.

Also, I took two  good shots of this good mural …

… during a good walk through the good Neponset River Reservation because my good son and good boyfriend were trying to guess what was on the missing panel (in the upper left corner next to the good bee).  What would be your good guess?

What would be a good song to include in this post?

Gratitude is always good, so thanks to all who helped me create today’s good enough blog post and — of course! — to YOU, my good readers.

Day 2191: Try me

Let’s try on this definition of “Try me” from The Free Dictionary:

Try me

Also found in: Wikipedia.

Try me.
Ask me.; Give me a chance.

A: I don’t suppose you know what the Achaean League is. B: Try me.

I don’t suppose you know what the Achaean League is, because I don’t either.  However, ask me and give me a chance to show you why I’ve chosen “Try me” for today’s post title.

I didn’t try that moisturizer at MiAlisa Salon yesterday, but I did try to take other photos, which involved trying things.

I tried on some new socks and leggings yesterday morning, despite reading an online article, “What Middle Aged Women Should Not Wear” which included patterned socks and leggings. Try as I might, I can’t find that article today. Also, I’m past middle age, so maybe it’s not so bad if I keep trying those things. However, that combination might be particularly trying.

There’s my friend Deb, trying to pick up leaves in her back yard. Do you want more information about those yellow leaf-picker-uppers?  Try me.  If I don’t know, I can always try to ask Deb.

Here are other images I tried to capture yesterday:

I enjoy images that show people trying new things, including crafts like mosaic quilting and flameworking. If you’re trying too hard to read some of those pictures, try clicking on them to make them larger.

Do you know what season it is around here?  Try me.

As I try to finish up today’s blog post, I’m going to try to share what else is on my mind.  I do want people to try me — to ask me and give me a chance.   I try to convey that as best as I can.  Sometimes I might try too hard and perhaps people find that trying. Also, I can find it trying, sometimes, to try to ask others for what I need.

Do you have questions about all this?  Try me.

Here‘s “Try Me” by James Brown.

 

Do you want to know how much gratitude I have for all those who helped me create today’s blog post and for you?  Try me.

 

Day 2071: Back in a flash

Yesterday, at the back end of my post, I flashed this photograph:

Was that fake news?  Yes, I’m back at WordPress, as always, but was it really in a flash? Actually, I’m back more than 24 hours after I originally flashed that sign yesterday in Day 2070: What’s your super power.

Here and now I’m flashing back to yesterday, when I listened to people whose views I respect, including

• Mia from MiAlisa Salon,
• former U.S. President Barack Obama, at the late Senator John McCain’s memorial service,
• my long-time friend Barbara,
• my boyfriend, Michael, and
• Rob* Tibbetts — the father of the late Mollie Tibbetts —  who wrote:

The person who is accused of taking Mollie’s life is no more a reflection of the Hispanic community as white supremacists are of all white people. To suggest otherwise is a lie. Justice in my America is blind. This person will receive a fair trial, as it should be. If convicted, he will face the consequences society has set. Beyond that, he deserves no more attention.

To the Hispanic community, my family stands with you and offers its heartfelt apology. That you’ve been beset by the circumstances of Mollie’s death is wrong. We treasure the contribution you bring to the American tapestry in all its color and melody.

My stepdaughter, whom Mollie loved so dearly, is Latina. Her sons — Mollie’s cherished nephews and my grandchildren — are Latino. That means I am Hispanic. I am African. I am Asian. I am European. My blood runs from every corner of the Earth because I am American. As an American, I have one tenet: to respect every citizen of the world and actively engage in the ongoing pursuit to form a more perfect union.

Given that, to knowingly foment discord among races is a disgrace to our flag.  It incites fear in innocent communities and lends legitimacy to the darkest, most hate-filled corners of the American soul. It is the opposite of leadership. It is the opposite of humanity. It is heartless. It is despicable. It is shameful.

When I connect to people whose views I respect, here’s what comes back in a flash:

Hope.

I’ll be back in a flash after I find the other photos I’ve taken most recently without a flash.

 

Across the street from where we live, birdwatchers and photographers are often back in a flash.

Back in a flash, after I search for some relevant music on YouTube….

In a flash, I found “Back In A Flash” from Disney’s House of Mouse.

I’ll be back in flash, after I publish this post, to find out what thoughts and feelings you’ve flashed in the flashy comments section, below.

Back in a flash with my latest flash of gratitude for all those who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — YOU.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

* When I published this, I erroneously wrote that Mollie Tibbetts’s father’s first name was John. When I realized my mistake, I was back in a flash to correct it to his right name: Rob Tibbetts.  I apologize for the mistake.

Day 2038: I give up!

In the last two thousand and thirty-eight days of blogging and living, I have never said, written, or thought, “I give up!” Today, I am saying, writing, and thinking it. Why? Because starting yesterday, every time I use my laptop to try to create a new blog post, contact WordPress support, or do many other essential tasks, all WordPress gives me is this unhelpful, unchanging screen:

That gives me nothing and no way to post or to get help.

I’ve given this a lot of time and many attempts at solving this. My mind is giving me no more ideas and options.

I give up!

But I can NOT give up blogging, no matter how many new obstacles life gives me, because this blog and my readers give me so much.

So how can I keep giving myself and my readers more daily gifts?

My phone does not give me the ability to contact WordPress for help, but it does give me the ability to create a new post.

So I can give you, today, this daily blog and give you my latest photos.

Harley is obscured there, just like solutions to my blogging problem are hidden from me now. Is it curtains for my blog? Or will some solution become clear and emerge?

Is there a recipe of steps that will give me back the ability to blog from my laptop? If not, maybe I can give myself comfort with the delicious food Michael gives me.

Maybe some computer genius, somewhere, will give me some solution to my WordPress problem. If not, I’ll just keep blogging, giving up disappointment and judgment.

This is the kind of look I give the world when I’ve had no sleep the night before. I’m going to give my haircutter, Mia, a look at this photo the next time I see her, so she can give me a similar haircut next time.

Even if nobody can give me the answer on how to blog again on my laptop, my phone will be just that good as my daily blogging machine.

I give my patients the choice of five “Coping and Healing” groups every week. This gives me tremendous satisfaction.

If you were lost in the woods — of WordPress or elsewhere — and it got dark, what would you do? I’ll give you all the time you need to think about that.

Michael keeps giving us amazing meals — that’s the one he gave us last night before we gave my son Aaron a ride to the airport.

I took this photo to give me a clue about how to find my car in the enormous and confusing parking lot at the airport, which always gives me a headache.

After I took that picture, we did not give up when we were told that Aaron needed a printed-out visa to board his flight to India, even though a website had given him the erroneous information that he could board by giving the visa information on his phone. Michael and Aaron gave me his bags to watch while they ran to the Hilton Hotel, which had printers which gave Aaron what he needed.

I give up trying to explain that any better.

Is it time for you to give up some comments below?

First, give it up for Jason Mraz performing “I Won’t Give Up.”

I now give up thanks for all people, animals, and things that help me create this daily blog, despite all the obstacles life gives me.

… “You’re golden!”

Day 2022: Raise the bar

Let’s raise the bar in this blog today and look at two definitions of “raise the bar.”

raise the bar
To raise the standards of quality that are expected of or required for something. “Since higher education became available to a greater number of people, businesses have increasingly been raising the bar for entry-level employees.”
See also: bar, raise
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
raise the bar
Fig. to make a task a little more difficult. (As with raising the bar in high jumping or pole vaulting.) “Just as I was getting accustomed to my job, the manager raised the bar and I had to perform even better.”
See also: bar, raise
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Somebody raised the bar in my neighborhood with this:

I agree that our nation could use some bar raising these days.

I shall now attempt to raise the blogging bar by sharing all my other photos from yesterday.

I think that church sign raises the bar, don’t you?

Here‘s “Raise the Bar” by The High Strung:

 

I’m sure you’ll raise the bar in the comment section, below.

Thanks to all who raise the bar as best they can, including YOU.

 

Day 1658: Ready?

Ready for some links to other posts I’ve written about being ready? Ready or not, here, here, here, here, here, here they come.

After I wrote that first “Ready” post on Day 10 of this blog, I was ready to create this t-shirt:

I left the house before I felt ready yesterday (wearing that t-shirt) because a furniture delivery at our new home by the sea was scheduled between 7:30 and 10:30 AM. I wondered if I would be ready for my 9 AM haircut appointment, miles away, and then ready for Comcast to come to the new home in the afternoon.

The furniture delivery guys showed up at 8 and I was ready for them. However, I wasn’t ready for this exchange:

Furniture delivery guys: You ordered a white table, right?

Me: No!

Furniture delivery guys: You didn’t?  That’s all we’ve got.

Me: Arrrrgh.

Furniture delivery guys: It’s a poker table, right?

Me: Are you guys yanking my chain?

Furniture delivery guys: (silence and then laughter when I punched one of them in the arm)

Me: Do you guys usually pretend you have the wrong stuff?

Furniture delivery guys: ALL THE TIME.

Even though I wasn’t ready for those guys to be such excellent actors that I was totally fooled for a few moments, I was ready for them to deliver our dining room set and so were they.

They were definitely ready for their close-up.

On my way to MiAlisa salon, I was ready to take a picture of a car in front of me with the license plate “ANGRY,” with my iPhone set to ready, aim,  fire on the dashboard of my car.

Ready to learn that the car on the left is the Angry one? That reminded me that those ready furniture delivery guys had told me that people readily get angry when they pretend they have the wrong stuff in the truck.

Ready for my other photos from yesterday?

 

Whether or not we’re ready, we’ve moving to our new home by the ocean tomorrow, July 17.

Gotta go pack so we’re ready for the movers tomorrow at 7 AM, but first, are you ready for more thanks from me?

 

Day 1063: Hair and now

A couple of days before now, I put this hairy post up on my Facebook page:

So, I am tired of believing, on any level, that my lovability is connected to how young I look and/or the way I wear my hair. Therefore, I am seriously considering cutting my hair super short and letting my hair color be completely natural. So my profile picture might be looking VERY different, very soon.

Now, the amount of support I got from this post was hair-raising.

Yesterday, I went to see my beloved hair expert, Mia at MiAlisa salon (appearing now in previous blog posts here, here, here, and here). I brought along these pictures of hair:

I noticed this sign at Mia’s hair salon …

… when my hair was this length:

I could still see all the wonderful words on that sign when my hair was this length:

And despite my son Aaron’s prediction that I might judge myself negatively after radically changing my hair, I was non-judgmental when I took these photos last night …

… and I’m still non-judgmental, hair and now.

Do you have any thoughts or feelings about hair, now?

Here and now, I’m grateful to Aaron, Mia, MiAlisa Salon,  Amuleto Mexican Table in Waltham and you (no matter what state your hair’s in now).