Day 3215: What do you see?

What I see is very much influenced by

• my mood,
• how much sleep I’ve gotten,
• what I choose to look at,
• the thoughts that are running through my head,
• the people around me,
• the cats around me,
• the news,
• the weather,
• how the Red Sox are doing,
• how I’m balancing my needs with others’ needs,
• self care,
• acceptance,
• how I’m breathing,
• how open I am to new perspectives, and
• how much I am able to stay in the moment.

What do you see when you look at my images for today?

I wonder what the Daily Bitch sees when she looks at herself in the mirror.

What do you see when you watch Sting sing “Every Breath You Take”?

What will I see in the comments section, below?

What do you see when I end every blog post with gratitude for YOU?

Day 3122: What gets in the way of you celebrating every new day?

What gets in the way of you celebrating every new day?

Is it not knowing what to celebrate?

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Is it anxiety?

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Is it grief?

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Is it a battle between your heart and your brain? Or bad decisions from the past?

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Is it creepy people with too much power?

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Is it people telling you what to do?

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Is it too much responsibility?

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Is it weird animals?

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Is it dreary weather?

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Is it painful experiences?

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Is it sleep problems?

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Is it parts of yourself you have trouble accepting?

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Is it barriers in your way that you can’t control?

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No matter what might get in the way, I hope my other images help you celebrate the new day.

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This is what I find on YouTube when I search for “celebrate the new day.”

Consider celebrating the new day by leaving a comment, below.

Thanks to all who help me celebrate every new day, including YOU.

Day 3031: Discover What’s Possible

Yesterday, when I discovered it’s possible to return to a place like Home Depot without having a panic attack, I saw this:

As advertised at Home Depot, Michael and I discovered what’s possible, including:

• buying a power washer so he can redo our decks,
• getting keys copied (because I still can’t find the keys I lost when I was getting COVID in NYC over a year ago),
• picking up mulch, and
• misspelling “mulch.”

Earlier in the day, I discovered what’s possible if I venture some place new: down some stairs to a different stretch of rocky beach near where we’ve lived for three years.

And last night, I discovered it’s possible to dream and think about a patient who doesn’t exist, trying to figure out a way to help them heal.

It seems like I’m constantly discovering what’s possible, every day.

Let’s discover what’s possible in my other images from yesterday.

Yesterday, I didn’t think it was possible to sit at an impossible height for 2 hours for $2 million, but who knows about the future?

Let’s discover what’s possible in “The Last Ship” by Sting.

Let’s discover what’s possible when you express your thoughts and feelings in a comment, below.

I discover what’s possible every day when I express gratitude, so thanks to all who help me create this blog, including YOU.

Day 3003: If you love someone

If you love someone, let them know!

If you love someone, share what you love with them.

If you love someone, share music with them.

If you love someone, invite them to share their thoughts and feelings with you (in a comment, below).

If you love someone, express gratitude to them.

Day 2811: If you love someone …

• set them free.

• invite them to connect with you.
• tell them you love them, because you don’t know how much time you have left with them.
• take pictures for them.

I took that last picture for people I graduated high school with in 1970, whom I love. I’m looking forward to seeing them at our Zoom reunion tomorrow evening.

If you love someone, what do you do?

I tell them how grateful I am that they (including YOU!) are still on this earth.

Day 2806: Stay calm

I’m trying to stay calm as I

• deal with new problems creating these posts because of changes on WordPress,
• blog on my phone this morning,
• get ready to resume working from home as a group and individual psychotherapist,
• attend a challenging Zoom meeting,
• set healthy boundaries,
• respect myself and others,
• balance preparation with spontaneity,
• deal with technological glitches,
• deal with human glitches,
• recover and learn from mistakes,
• accept my natural impatience and sensitivities,
• encounter disappointment,
• feel helpless,
• rush to respond to people as quickly as possible,
• plan my 50th high school reunion on Zoom, and
• face the uncertainties we are all encountering, here and now.

What helps you stay calm? For me, it’s sharing photos like these:

Music like this helps me stay calm, even while reminding me of how fragile we are:

I also stay calm by noticing and expressing gratitude, so thanks to all who help me create these daily posts, including YOU.

Day 2617: What I found

Yesterday, I found hope …

… amid all the spin.

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I found a sign about how others are finding God.

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I found photos of beloved animals.

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I found ways to brace myself for a week away from home and Michael.

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I found peace in nature.

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I found everything I needed to pack for my trip to New York City today.

I found compassion for my own and others’ fragility, and I found this song written by Sting and performed by Stevie Wonder and Sting.

 

As usual, I found gratitude.

 

Day 2467: Dragons, dogs, and ducks

As I described last week in two blog posts (here and here), I’ve been working on reducing the power of a toxic person in my life by reimagining them as a less powerful entity — transforming them in my imagination from a dragon to a little yappy dog.

Yesterday, I discovered that it also helped to think of this person as an “odd duck” — an image that  I reinforced  by taking pictures of  the various  ducks I encountered during the day.

Using this online definition of “odd duck” ….

Noun
odd duck (plural odd ducks)

(idiomatic) An unusual person, especially an individual with an idiosyncratic personality or peculiar behavioral characteristics.
Synonyms
odd fish, strange bird, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person

… do you see any evidence of odd ducks in my other photos from yesterday?

Sting (whose birthday it was yesterday) does not have a song titled “Odd Duck”,  but Björk does.

I’m wondering how many odd comments I’ll get about this “Odd Duck” post.

Duck!  Here comes an odd number of thank you’s to all who helped me create today’s odd-numbered blog post, including YOU!

Day 2024: Read before you proceed

What do you read before you proceed?

Yesterday, I read this before I proceeded to my office:

Before I proceed tomorrow with my first board meeting as president of a group psychotherapy organization, I will read my notes to prepare.

I read, before I proceed, the latest world news, which indicates that the American president did not read messages from many advisors before proceeding to meet Putin in Helsinki.

Read before you proceed this line I just made up about that:

What works in Biloxi might not work in Helsinki.

Read before you proceed another line from me:

When Trump stopped in Helsinki  the results seemed rather stinky.

Read before you proceed the lines in my other photos from yesterday:

Those geese appeared to read the walk sign before they proceeded across the street.

Read before you proceed these lyrics to Sting’s “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”:

You could say I’d lost my belief in our politicians
They all seem like game show hosts to me.

Read before you proceed all the lyrics for that song:

Read before you proceed my thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — you, for reading this before proceeding.

Day 1569: So to speak

“So to speak” has this definition, so to speak:

SO TO SPEAK
as one might say; said a certain way, even though the words are not exactly accurate. “John helps me with my taxes. He’s my accountant, so to speak.” “I just love my little poodle. she’s my baby, so to speak.”

How would you use “so to speak” in a sentence?

People sometimes use “so to speak” as just another conversational place-holder, like”that being said,” which is  often said by Michael, my boyfriend and house husband, so to speak.

Since I am a daily blogger and photographer, so to speak,  here are my pictures from yesterday, when I walked around my neighborhood, so to speak.

 

So to speak with my son, Aaron, who’s studying (so to speak) in Scotland, we use FaceTime on my phone, so to speak.

“So To Speak” is also a song that speaks to many people.

So to speak to me about this post, you can leave a comment below.

Thanks to all who helped me create this so-to-speak post and to you — of course! — no matter how you speak.