Day 2328: A Year of No Worry

Yesterday, when I was at Home Depot with Michael, we had a conversation about worry. Don’t worry, I’m going to share it.

Michael:You know,  I’m always happy when I’m at Home Depot. So I’ve decided to not worry about anything for a year. I’m not going to worry about the repair to the plumbing  I’ll be doing with these supplies and all the other home projects I’m planning.  And no matter what’s going on in the news, I’m just not going to worry. I’ll worry about everything a year from now.

Me:  That’s great! I’m going to join you in that pledge.  So no more worrying until a year from today.  That will be easy to remember, too, because it’s National Sibling Day.

When we were at the cash register buying the plumbing supplies, I told a a helpful employee about our year of no worry and invited her to join us.  She said, “Gee. I don’t know. It’s my job to worry.”  I invited her to realize that there’s a difference between worry and planning ( as well as a difference between worry and helping).  She said, “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

I’m not going to worry about that interaction or any other personal interaction for a year.  Yay!

Does anybody reading this want to join Michael and me in A Year of No Worry? I unworriedly recommend it. For example, I have no worries about the photos I have to share with you today.

 

I’m not going to worry about anything in those photos including that black hole, especially since worry can be a black hole.

Here’s a song about not worrying:

I’m not gonna let anything bother or worry me until April 10, 2020. And don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated on my and Michael’s progress in this blog.

Thanks to all who helped me create this “A Year of No Worry”  post and — of course! — YOU.

 

Day 2318: Your favorites here!

When I was grocery shopping yesterday with one of my favorites (my boyfriend Michael from Boston), I saw this sign:

My favorites are here, there, and everywhere.   Where are your favorites?

Some favorite thoughts about favorites are here!

• It’s helpful to write a list of favorites — also called “a gratitude list.”  It’s one of my favorite ways to improve somebody’s mood.
• It’s NOT helpful for parents to play favorites among their children.
• Favorites is spelled “Favourites” in the United Kingdom.
• Yesterday, one of my favorite people, who has the same kind of unusual heart as one of your favorite bloggers, asked me to be on one of his favorite podcasts about congenital heart conditions.
• Last week, I started writing another original song about a favorite subject  (“Comfort”)  which I hope will be one of your favorites.
• This past weekend, my favorite Michael and I watched the latest film by our favorites the Coen brothers and now The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is one of my favorites.
• April is one of my favorite months, even though  one of my favorite poets — T. S. Eliot — said it was the cruelest one.
• I encourage people not to play favorites with their feelings, but to accept all of them.
• I try to capture favorite images every day with my camera and my latest ones are here!

One of m favorites, these days, is dancing to favorite songs with my favorite Michael.  One of my favorite songs for dancing is here!

It’s not peculiar that I’m ending this post with thanks to all who helped me create it and (of course!) to you, because that’s one of my favorite things to do!

 

Day 2317: Signs of spring

I’m often looking for signs, including signs of the advent of spring (my favorite season).

The “sign” post I  just linked to in that signature opening paragraph — Day 1319: Subtle signs — has subtle signs that I wrote that blog post shortly before two major life signposts: my open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic and the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States.

Since the 2016 election, I’ve noticed signs that I — and the United States — have somehow changed.  I see signs of that in every blog post I’ve written since then.  Of course, everything changes and everything changes us, although this saying

The more things change, the more they stay the same

is a sign that perhaps I should change my mind about that, also.

Here are some other signs on my mind:

• The tears in my eyes, as I write this, are signs of some unresolved grief about past events.
• Older people often look for the signs of dementia in themselves and others.
• When I procrastinate doing something — like writing a Letter from the President for a newsletter — that’s a sign that I need more information or need to resolve some fear about the outcome.
• We tend to look for signs, in the present, that replicate our experiences as children, sometimes ignoring richer, more diverse signs of a wider range of possibilities.
• I am making a concerted effort to be open to signs that conflict with my expectations.
• I’ve dealt with signs that I’m catastrophizing more than most people by writing a song about that (included in yesterday’s blog post, here).
• I went looking for actual signs of spring, yesterday.

Signs of spring remind me that I’ll be seeing Pat Metheny in concert this spring. Here‘s “Spring Ain’t Here” by the Pat Metheny Group.

 

I’ll be looking for signs of your reactions to this post in the comments section, below.

No matter what the season, you’ll always find signs of my gratitude — for those who help me write this daily blog and for readers like YOU — at the end of every post.

Day 2277: Probable

Yesterday, I shared with my boyfriend Michael the latest catastrophizing fear in my brain.  Michael listened and then responded:

That sounds probable.

It’s probable that Michael was being sarcastic and it’s probable that I will continue to seek out Michael when I’m catastrophizing because it’s probable he will say something helpful.

It’s probable that I will continue to blog daily because that helps me, too.

It’s probable that I will snap photos and share them with you.

It’s probable that Michael is going to make something delicious for dinner, like those burritos.

I don’t know how probable it is that we’ll get a dog some day because of, you know, the cats.

It’s probable that comedian Pete Holmes is visiting Lexington High School in that scene from his excellent show Crashing (even though I initially thought it was probable that was my son’s high school, instead).

According to my news feed, it’s probable that  many people will be running for U.S. President in 2020.

It seems probable, to me, that unless we human beings drastically change our behaviors, the future might look like the movie WALL-E.

It’s probable that my day at work today will be different from WALL-E’s.

It’s probable that some of my readers will comment and it’s more than probable that I’ll express gratitude to all who helped me create this “probable” post and — of course! — to YOU.

 

Day 2276: Take time to reflect

In the midst of all the action in yesterday’s petty post, there was this invitation to take time to reflect:

You may not have noticed that good advice from this good book:

because I was guilty of reflecting it on its side, like this:

I didn’t take time to reflect those two page  in their correct orientation yesterday, because there was so much petty information I wanted to share.

Like Wilma, I believe it is important to take time to reflect, even in the midst of emergencies and adventures.   Today, I have a day off from work because of Presidents Day, so I can take time to reflect.  My boyfriend Michael, who definitely takes time to reflect, asked me to reflect on who were my most favorite and least favorite U.S. Presidents.

If you take time to reflect, how would you answer Michael’s question?

I’m  going to take time to share something else Michael reflected: “These days everything seems sinister to me.”  I took time to reflect Michael’s feelings and then to ask him if I seemed sinister to him.  When he said no, I took time to reflect  that I AM sinister, because “sinister” means “left-handed” in Latin.

I take time to reflect my gratitude that there is less bias against left-handed people than there used to be.

Please take time to reflect on these recent, previously unreflected photos:

 

 

 

 

I take time to reflect when I drive and when I ride, especially when there’s snow on the ground.

I take time to reflect that a week from now I will be in Los Angeles, taking time to reflect with many other group therapists about the work we do.

Last night, I took time to reflect to Michael  how much I love this performance of “In France They Kiss on Main Street” with my favorites Joni Mitchell, Pat Metheny,  Lyle Mays, and Jaco Pastorius.

I’m taking time to reflect that Pat and Lyle looked like that when I first saw them at the Paradise in Boston, decades ago.

Please take time to reflect your thoughts and feelings in a comment, below.

As usual, I take time at the end of each post to reflect gratitude towards all who help me create this reflective blog and — of course! — YOU.

Day 2262: Fancy meeting you here

Fancy meeting you here, dear readers!

Do you fancy an explanation of that phrase, from italki.com?

Best Answer – Chosen by Voting
Imagine meeting you here. In this context, fancy means to form a mental image of something (in your sentence, the something is meeting you here). The phrase “Fancy meeting you here” usually means that the speaker is surprised by the fact that you are here, it was an unexpected occurence.

Fancy that best answer including a misspelling of “occurrence” since that’s a word I can never remember how to spell (and I  just had to look it up using my fancy laptop).

Fancy our meeting all these things yesterday during our weekly shopping trip to the supermarket:

Fancy meeting a robot at a supermarket!  That fancy spill-seeking robot, named Marty, roamed up and down the aisles, sometimes got stuck, and was hunted by that little girl and by me.  Do you fancy meeting Marty?

 

Some of the workers at that supermarket did not fancy that fancy robot. Fancy that!

Fancy seeing more of my fancy fotos from yesterday?

Fancy the New England Patriots winning another Super Bowl!

I fancy meeting you in a comment, below.

As always, I end with fancy thanks to all who helped me create this post and to you, for meeting me here.

 

 

Day 2254: What’s not inside

What’s not inside our home is this sign, which I saw inside a supermarket last night:

Have you seen what’s not inside?  How we can we something that’s not there?

What’s not inside my heart and mind, here and now, seen or unseen, includes

• hate,
• resentment,
• fear about the future,
• regret about the past,
• expectations about my birthday on Groundhog Day,
• concern about what other people are thinking about me,  and
• all the words I wrote, earlier this month, for my latest original song, which I’ll be debuting at an Open Mic in five days.

What IS inside this post are the lyrics for that song, because typing them here might help place them more firmly inside my mind.

What are Other People Thinking About You?

by Ann Koplow

What are other people thinking about you?

Is it something good or something bad?

Who’s to say if you’re somebody they’ve noticed

And what they would be thinking if they had.

Was the person’s dirty look about you?

Was that guy annoyed by something you did?

Could it be he’s thinking instead of his family

Like his most distressing and stressing kid.

People’s thoughts go everywhere,

Of you they’re often not aware,

And even if their thoughts end up on you,

Thoughts can’t hurt you anyway,

Their thoughts will move and go away

Unless you let them stick to you like glue.

What are other people thinking about you?

I think we spend too much time thinking that.

Other people’s thoughts can’t really touch us,

Even judgments, like we’re stupid, old, or fat.

People’s thoughts go everywhere,

Of you they’re often not aware

And even if their thoughts end up on you,

Thoughts can’t hurt you anyway,

Those thoughts will change and go away,

Unless you let them stick to you like glue.

What are other people thinking about you?

Face it, you will never know for sure,

Then why not think they’re thinking that you’re gorgeous,

Talented and smart and secure.

© Ann Koplow, 2019

What’s not inside this post is the second ending to that song, which I wrote in response to what my son, Aaron, was thinking about those lyrics.

What is inside this post, as usual, are my recent and previously unshared photos.

 

What’s not inside that photo montage is a picture of my son’s keyboard, which I plan to put inside my car on Friday and bring with me to the Open Mic.

What’s not inside YouTube are  videos about what’s not inside things. Instead, searching on “What’s not Inside” at YouTube yields videos about what IS inside all the following:

• elf on a shelf,
• iPhone X,
• a rattlesnake rattle,
• Kevin Durant’s basketball shoe,
• a Furby Connect,
• the original Teddy Ruxpin,
• a secret frozen tunnel,
• a stop light,
• a pimple,
• an Etch A Sketch,
• a black box,
• a black hole,
• a fidget spinner,
• a giant Magic 8 ball,
• a cat coin bank, and
• a handgun, which reminds me that what’s inside my Facebook page is a birthday fund-raiser for Everytown for Gun Safety.

What’s not inside this post, so far, is music. Here is “The Calm Inside the Storm” by Cindi Lauper:

What’s not inside this blog, yet, are comments on this post.

What’s always inside my posts are thanks to all who help me create them and — of course! — to YOU.

 

 

Day 2247: Fun fun fun

Ready for some fun fun fun?

I’m having more fun fun fun than expected today because the strong winds and snow totals forecasted  for this weekend “drastically changed.” Instead of  my waking up to one fun foot of snow (as predicted), there are just a few fun inches:

I know some people have fun fun fun in the snow, but I’m not one one one of them.

Yesterday, I had fun fun fun taking these fun fotos for my fun readers.

Here are some of my fun fun fun thoughts, now now now:

• I recently wrote a fun fun fun post titled “Hello Beautiful,”  It was fun fun fun, yesterday, to see a different card with that beautiful greeting.
• I wish the opposite-of-fun-fun-fun government shutdown would end end end, soon soon soon. It’s no fun when good governments go bad (like those pugs in that calendar).
• My fun fun fun and funny funny funny boyfriend doesn’t like the word “fun.”  He prefers to use the word “engaged.”  That’s why I had so much fun taking this particular fun foto yesterday:

• I love the word fun, use it all the time, and plan on having fun fun fun  as long as my heart heart heart  keeps beating beating beating.
• Instead of just having fun fun fun on Groundhog Day in two weeks, this year for my birthday I’m doing a fun fun fund-raiser for Everytown for Gun Safety on fun  Facebook, because guns guns guns without safety are no fun fun fun.
• I just read this fun article on how some Patriots fan fan fans don’t have so much fun fun fun on Game Day because their friends friends friends think they’re jinxed.
• It’s fun fun fun for me to throw useless things away, especially when they ask me to keep them.

Are we having fun yet?

It’s fun for me to know how you have fun fun fun, so please please please  comment comment comment, below.

Thanks thanks thank to all who help me have fun fun fun, including you you you!

Day 2233: Hot damn!

Hot damn!

I’m going to Disney World, I am.

Hot damn!

I’m going with my son Aaron’s fam.

Hot damn!

Am I color-blind, ma’am?

Hot damn!

Follow your heart and be happy as a clam.

Hot damn!

Listen to The Haggis Horns jam!

Hot damn! My thanks are no sham nor scam.

Hot dog or damn! To Orlando I must scram.

Day 2225: Who is it?

Who is it that just posted this on Facebook?

If it’s not me posting that I’ll be performing my latest original song “It’s Not Me” at the Jam’n Java Open Mic in Arlington’s Kickstand Cafe this Friday (January 4) while wearing my original t-shirt that says “It’s Not Me,” then who is it?

Who is it that just wrote another verse for “It’s Not Me”?

It’s not me who’s claiming

that our love was a sham.

It’s not me who’s blaming

all the things that I am.

© Ann Koplow, 2018

Who is it that took these photos yesterday?

 

 

Who is it that will be disappointed if people don’t laugh at the improv section of “It’s Not Me” Friday night?  And who is it that learned how to balance a salt shaker on its side at college?

Who is it that’s sharing this music, here and now?

Who is that saw The Who at The Boston Garden in the 1970s?

Who is it that’s expressing thanks to all who helped me create this post (including my son Aaron and The Who) and to you — Whoo hoo! —  who’s reading it?