Every day, no matter what this blog is about, I categorize it as “Personal growth” in the settings (which appear at the end of each post).
Do you see personal growth in today’s images?
I don’t know if the Daily Bitch would agree with this, but I believe that personal growth is mutual — if we witness somebody else’s personal growth, we personally grow too.
Yesterday, in therapy with someone who struggles with confrontation (and dealing effectively with confrontation is part of everyone’s personal growth), I mentioned how David Letterman used to make difficult phone calls for studio audience members.
Here’s something that Pat Metheny (who was sitting in with Dave’s band that night and who has helped me with my personal growth for decades) was playing with his group in 1995:
If you make a comment, that might help everybody’s personal growth.
Gratitude is part of personal growth, so thanks to everyone who accompanies me on this blogging journey, including YOU.
One question I have when I watch that video is “Why did Michael Brecker, the wonderful sax player, have to die so young?” but I know there is no answer to that.
Yesterday my son Aaron and I were discussing hallucinogens like LSD and I asked the question, “Should I finally try those, especially because they have so profoundly affected some people I love?”
Because doctors recommend that I neither drink alcohol nor ride a moped these days, I’m thinking the answer is “no.”
If your question is “When is Ann going to share her latest images?” the answer is “now.”
Feel free to share any question or answer in the comments section, below.
No matter what the question, my answer is gratitude, so thanks to all who help me create these daily posts, including YOU.
Yesterday, in therapy, there were many messages to friends, including “I’m glad you showed up exactly the way you did,” “the pain of a loss is in direct proportion to the importance of the relationship,” “all your feelings are welcome,” “it’s never what you expect,” “all change is anxiety-provoking, even good changes, and especially changes we didn’t choose,” “there’s a huge difference between worry and planning,” “congratulations for not going completely bonkers,” and “what you’re doing is good enough AND you can make it better.”
Today, because of friendly messages I got from the hospital where I work, I’m getting my first vaccine for the coronavirus.
Here are more messages to friends:
I appreciate timely messages from my friend and yours, The Daily Bitch.
Feel free to leave messages to friends in the comments section, below.
All my messages to friends include gratitude, so thanks to all who help me create these daily messages to friends, including YOU.
Yesterday, I wrote about the color blue. My true-blue reader, Maureen, wrote this in a response:
I’m intrigued by how strongly the political parties in the United States are associated with the colors red and blue. Do you think that avid Republicans could ever feel that blue is their favorite color? or do people’s political associations affect their color preferences?
I am an avid Democrat and my favorite color is red, as you can see from the photos I’m sharing today.
If my country doesn’t turn blue this year, I’ll be thinking thoughts like today’s Daily Bitch, turning red in anger and embarrassment.
While I am waiting for the election results, I shall listen to favorite music, including The Red One, featuring some red-hot guitar playing by Pat Metheny and John Scofield.
What are your thoughts and feelings about this red post?
Red thanks to all who help me create these daily posts, read by many, including YOU!
Have you ever experienced a stranger time with so much danger? Above all, there is danger because of the stranger in the White House.
Do you see stranger danger in today’s images?
I am having an echocardiogram today at 3 to discover whether COVID-19 has damaged my heart, which is stranger than yours. Everyone will be wearing masks during this procedure, so that strangers won’t cause danger to each other. Even though masks might make us look and feel stranger, it’s the strangest behavior in the world not to wear one to reduce danger to oneself and others.
The stranger in the White House is endangering countless lives of strangers with his stranger and stranger behavior. If you are voting for him, nothing is stranger to me.
Truth is stranger than fiction, and “Stranger in Town” from Pat Metheny’s Orchestrion showed up in my headphones yesterday when I was taking my “Stranger Danger” photos.
What are your thoughts and feelings about this Stranger Danger post?
Thanks to all the friends and strangers who help me create this daily blog, which reduces my danger during these stranger and stranger times.
It’s for you that I write these blog posts. But it’s also for me. As I encounter so many ups and downs in life, blogging every morning strengthens me for the day ahead.
It’s for you that I’m trying out a new, unfamiliar-to-me editor as I blog today. But it’s also for me (to increase my confidence about using new technology as I prepare to host my 50th high school reunion on Zoom).
It’s for you that I captured all these images, but it’s also for me.
It’s for you and for me that I realize that “It’s for you” would make a good caption for this:
It’s for you that I have a comments section but it’s also for me.
It’s for you and for me that I collect images of gratitude to end these posts.
I’m grateful that writing this post with the new editor was much easier than I expected! This reminds me of the helpful cognition I’m working on in EMDR therapy:
I can trust myself, which allows me to figure out who else to trust.
Thanks to Pat, Lyle, Harley, Michael (for the burritos), the South Shore of Boston, our neighborhood church, our neighbors, snowy and not-so-snowy egrets, WordPress, and YOU.
