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).

 

Day 1062: Get your daily dose of goodness

Yesterday — “Black Friday” in the United States — I saw this in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts:

How do you get your daily dose of goodness?  Do you look for it without or within?

Yesterday, I found doses of goodness not only in Harvard Square, but also at a PetSmart (where we witnessed somebody finally adopting a big black cat named “Magic”),  a Whole Foods Market, and other local environs.

Lately, I’ve been allowing WordPress to negotiate how it hands out and arranges doses of my photography.  I see, as a result, some goodness might be difficult to read.

I believe you can increase the size of any photographic dose by clicking on a photo, but just in case, I’m going to re-dose these, here and now:

My good pacemaker doctor, Dr. Mark Estes (previously appearing in good doses here, here, and here), made the “Top Doctors” list in Boston Magazine, again. That’s a dose of goodness, for me.

Did anything in this post give you a daily dose of goodness?  If not, how might you get that goodness elsewhere, today?

Here’s another dose worth repeating:

Hugs and kisses of gratitude from me, to you.

Day 1057: Phew

“Phew” is a sound of relief.  It’s one of a few sounds I make — to myself and out loud to others — that  I call “comic book noises.”   Another comic book noise I make is “Eeeek!”

Because “Eeeek!” is a sound of fear, “Phew” is a good balance for that one.

Phew!

It’s a relief to have balance in my life.

When I woke up this morning, I realized I had lived through another  November 22nd.

Phew.

Now it’s time to think about

• my new psychotherapy office in Newton, starting on December 1,
• the holidays,
• my almost-full-time work at a major Boston teaching hospital where I provide group and individual therapy,
• my 17-year-old son’s college application process,
• the increasingly cold weather,
• blogging every day, and
• lots of events and obligations, coming up soon.

For everything in that list, I could say

Eeeek!

or

Phew

… depending on my mood and my perspective.

I’m much more likely to say “Phew”  if I

• focus on the present moment,
• take one step at a time,
• identify what is achievable,
• exercise self-care, and
•  connect with others.

What makes you say “Eeek”?  What makes you say “Phew”?

Do any of my  photos evoke comic book noises?

If I don’t include music in today’s post, will that cause an “Eeek!” or a “Phew”?

It’s a relief (Phew) to thank people, cats, personal produce (Eeeek!)  and you — Yay! —  no matter what noises you’re making, here and now.

Day 1046: Great

When people describe progress and other positive things — at work and elsewhere —  I often hear myself saying

Great.

If you think puns are great, we might say I’m great-ful.

Last night, my great boyfriend Michael and I saw this:

I thought that was great that this great cat

has overcome great fear to believe that people are great.

Which of these photos do my great readers think are great?

  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
All this greatness makes me think of the great Alec Baldwin impersonating Tony Bennett (one of the greats) and singing “I Like Things that are Great.” I couldn’t find that great song anywhere  on great YouTube, but I did find this other great Saturday Night Live skit:

If any of my great readers finds “I Love Things That Are Great,” that would be great if you could post it in a comment below. Actually, any comment would be great.

Speaking of great-ful:

Day 1045: Sit down

How much do you sit down, during a typical day?

During the work week, I sit down while facilitating groups and individual therapy. Other people sit down, too, during those sessions.

When I am not sitting down, I am often up and walking around, thank goodness.

Yesterday, I sat down in my car and drove to East Boston to sit down in some chairs for my new office, which sits in Newton, Massachusetts. I want chairs that are (1) comfortable for people to sit down in and (2) easily storable, so other therapists can sit down in that office and use it when I’m not there.

Sit down and see these photos that were sitting on my iPhone:

  
  
  

   
  

The chairs I purchased yesterday for my new office — which are great for sitting down and for storing away — are sitting in one of the photos above. If you sit down and think, can you pick the right picture?

As I sit down, these thoughts are sitting with me:

1. If we stuff down feelings, they will sit uncomfortably inside us.
2. When situations and people are difficult, sit down and work it through as best you can.
3. There’s always  time to sit down and breathe.
4. Sometimes I feel there’s an angry little kid who sits down deep inside, wanting to have a tantrum. Most times, she sits down comfortably.
5. When I sat down yesterday, this music was sitting beside me:

On the cover of the album where “Sit Yourself Down”” sits, Stephen Stills is sitting down in snow next to a giraffe. That sits well with me.

Finally, stand up — if you can on Veterans Day — to salute those who help us sit down in peace.
Sit yourself down and accept my gratitude for sitting down next to me, here and now.