Day 3004: Learning the hard way

Do you see examples of learning the hard way in today’s images?

We seem to be learning the hard way about gun violence and common sense gun laws in the USA.

There is some learning the hard way in “The Gun Song” from Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins.

Thanks to all who helped me create this “Learning the Hard Way” post, as we all keep learning the hard way together.

Day 2874: I know things ordinary people don’t know

I know things ordinary people don’t know because I

• was born with a very unusual heart,
• grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household,
• had an incredibly funny, creative, and kind father, who loved to make people laugh,
• had an incredibly caring, kind, clean and neat mother, who loved to laugh,
• realized I had a connection with cats when I was very young,
• had my first major heart surgery when I was 10 on the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated,
• have relied on cardiac pacemakers to keep me alive since that day,
• spent a lot of time in hospitals where I met many different types of people,
• danced in our basement to musicals when nobody was watching,
• read voraciously when I was young,
• learned to play the piano, guitar, and ukulele,
• attended three schools where everyone there knew I had a heart condition,
• travelled across the USA by bus when I was 21,
• visited many different countries,
• danced, danced, danced in the 1970s even though my heart rate was fixed at 72 beats per minute,
• majored in English literature at college,
• worked as a technical writer, marketing writer, teacher, manager, and psychotherapist,
• volunteered for several years at a suicide hotline,
• attended graduate schools for film studies and social work,
• love hearing other people’s stories,
• married two extraordinary men,
• gave birth to an extraordinary son when I was 45 years old,
• saw people behave at their best and their worst and everything in between (including me),
• survived the coronavirus,
• have kept learning from all the people I have encountered in my long life, and
• have the Daily Bitch calendar, which knows a lot.

Can you tell that I know things ordinary people don’t know from the rest of today’s photos?

Harley knows things that ordinary cats don’t know, but he’s not telling.

It’s a good thing I know things that ordinary people don’t know, because I’ll be teaching several interns about my Coping and Healing groups this morning at 9.

Here is “I Know Things Now” from Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim, whom I’ve known I’ve loved for a long, long time.

I also know gratitude that ordinary people don’t know, every day, so thanks to to all the extraordinary people I’ve known, including YOU!

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Day 2816: Other people’s stories

As a psychotherapist, I love listening to other people’s stories.

What I DON’T love is other people who act like only their story is:

• real,
• legitimate, and
• worth listening to.

These days, more than ever, it’s important to make room for the stories that are not being heard. Why aren’t they being heard? Because people with power/the spotlight are

• loud,
• disrespectful of others,
• disinterested in the facts,
• obsessed with their own grievances,
• trying to hold on to power, and
• apparently not interested in other people’s stories.

If you do not leave room for other people’s stories, the dominant story becomes strident, repressive, demoralizing, inaccurate, and eventually obsolete. Personally, I am fighting for other people’s stories (including my own!) to be heard, so we can all survive together.

Here is one person’s photographic story for the day:

In my story, there is always room for the the Daily Bitch, love, AND your stories (in the comments section below).

Yesterday, when I was creating today’s photographic story, I heard the Prologue to Stephen Sondheim‘s Into the Woods, which includes lots of other people’s stories.

My stories always include gratitude for all who help me create these daily stories, including YOU.

Day 2758: This feels relevant for me

Yesterday, my friend Megan texted me something that feels relevant for both of us…

… so “This feels relevant for me” is the title of this post.

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All these photos feel relevant for me.

This feels relevant for me:  our beloved kitty Oscar is approaching the end of his life.  The reason Megan’s family has a cat today is because Oscar visited with her and her husband Paul many years ago and, with his relevant charming and chill nature, convinced skeptical Paul that cats could be incredibly wonderful.

As I’m writing this-feels-relevant-for-me blog post, Oscar is crying over his water bowl and I’m crying with anticipatory grief.

I heard the Stephen Sondheim song  “I Remember” from Evening Primrose yesterday while I was taking relevant photos, and this feels relevant for me.

I remember the late U.S. Congressman John Lewis, whom we lost on July 17.  His fight for civil rights and against racism feels relevant for all of us.

Gratitude feels relevant for me, every day.

Day 2694: Rulers of the House

If you saw the headline “Rulers of the House” (which I’m recreating in my house, here and now), what would your immediate association be?

Might “Rulers of the House” be

• Men?
• Women?
• Adults?
• Children?
• Monarchs?
• Elected officials?
• Appointed officials?
• Democrats?
• Conservatives?
• Corporations?
• People with money?
• People with privilege?
• Sports figures?
• Animals?
• Deities?
• Emotions?
• Conscious thoughts?
• Unconscious thoughts?
• Dreams?
• The weather?
• Nature?
• Technology?
• Television?
• Planets?

Do you see any Rulers of the House in my photos from yesterday?

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “Rulers of the House”:

More rulers of the house:

I love the way Jewel Gilchrist rules her house.

Christine Baranski,  Meryl Streep, and Audra McDonald are Rulers of the House in this version of “The Ladies Who Lunch” (from the 90th birthday celebration for Stephen Sondheim):

If you want to be one of the Rulers of the House of Living Non-Judgmentally, please leave a comment below.

As always, the rules of this house include expressing gratitude for all those in my life with hearts of gold, including YOU.

Day 2674: Jaw Dropping

It’s jaw dropping to me that I forgot about the invitation (which I included in yesterday’s  post)  to stream Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday celebration last night, with its jaw-dropping lineup of stars:

I have found many things jaw-dropping lately, including

• American leadership’s responses to the pandemic crisis,
• racism, sexism, ageism, and homophobia,
• how difficult it is for people to get what they need,
• how little there is to celebrate these days, and
• people’s ability to celebrate, anyway.

Do you see anything jaw-dropping in my photos from yesterday?

It’s jaw dropping

• that there was no spinach, parsley, or flour at the supermarket yesterday,
• the delicious meal Michael made anyway,
• how hard nurses work for us every day of the year,
• the level of suffering out there, and
• how lucky I am, here and now.

 

Here‘s the jaw-dropping celebration of Stephen Sondheim from last night:

I look forward to your jaw-dropping comments with (of course!) jaw-dropping gratitude.

Day 2637: What’s important to remember

This morning, I saw this headline on my newsfeed:

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo says it’s important to remember that people are worried and anxious.

It was important to remember to watch Governor Cuomo delivering that message:

It’s also important to remember:

• to be empathic,
• to be mindful,
• to be kind to others and to ourselves,
• to say the important things to those who matter to us, and
• that we’re all quarantined now, in one way or another.

Let’s see if there’s anything important to remember in my quarantined photos from yesterday:

It’s important for me to remember that my cousin Liane Plane was in the original production of West Side Story on Broadway, and that The New York Times thought it was important, too, in one of several articles about Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday.

It’s important for me to remember that my friend Jeanette noticed that Liane looks like the dancer emoji💃 in that old photo.

It’s important for me to remember that Liane danced in one of my favorite musical numbers ever, “America,” even though I was too young to see her in it. Here’s “America” from the film version of West Side Story.

It’s important to remember that people will be dancing together again, eventually, in New York and elsewhere.

What do you think is important to remember, here and now?

I hope you remember that I’m grateful to YOU, every day.

Day 2629: How bad could it be?

How bad could it be?

How can we even answer that question when

• there are so many things we don’t know and
• experts are saying it’s going to get worse before it gets better?

How bad could it be that I’m self quarantining, knowing I’m doing the best for myself and for all those I care about?

How bad could it be for me to share these photos with my good readers?

How bad could it be if

• Michael cooks delicious pasta and
•  Oscar and Harley look up and share our happiness?

How bad could it be if Stephen Sondheim is turning 90 years old this month? Here he is playing “Move On” at the memorial service for Michael Bennett, who died during the AIDS pandemic:

 

How bad could it be where you are, here and now?

How good could it be to express gratitude to all those I appreciate, including YOU?

Day 2596: Best Gift Ever

What is the best gift ever?

Is it

• sweets,
• flowers,
• clothes,
• jewelry,
• a book,
• art,
• music,
• words,
• comfort,
• a pet,
• friendship,
• kindness,
• love,
• home,
• the Earth,
• the sky, or
• pictures?

Is the best gift being happy together?

For me, the best gift, here and now, would be a comment from you.

Finally, I hope you accept my gift of gratitude.

Day 2380: Evolving

To help with my personal evolving, I’ve been reading articles like How to Stop Feeling Overly Responsible, How to Stop Being Petty: 7 Sure Fire Tips to Calm Your Inner Rage,  and Change your relationship with food — and stop eating your feelings, and also reading books like My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies and Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom.

Yesterday, I saw this at the home of my evolving friend Jenn, her evolving husband Joe, and their three evolving pugs:

As usual, this post is evolving into a place to share all my photos from yesterday.

 

Did you see any evidence of evolving there? And BTW, any of those photos will be evolving into a larger one if you click on it.

Here’s the result of a search for “Evolving” on YouTube:

And here’s a comment from an evolving YouTube visitor:

Kameron Kargel
3 years ago
That moment you realize that it says envolving and not evolving

Evolving thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to YOU.