Today, according to the USA National Day Calendar, is the National Day of Forgiveness.
Not knowing this, I coincidentally tweeted this yesterday:
Forgive me for making up the word “Guiltmo,” which means a self-imposed prison of guilt.
Forgive me for hastily creating today’s blog post, as I need to leave soon for my one-day-a-week in-person psychotherapy work at a Boston medical center. Do you see forgiveness in any of my other images for today?
Please forgive me, Daily Bitch, for having a personal chef (my husband Michael). I’m forgiving myself for forgetting to take a picture of the delicious veggie stroganoff he made for us last night.
Does the world need an explanation of what inspired my blog post title today?
If so, here’s the answer, which arrived in the mail yesterday:
The world needs therapy, according to that brochure. I’m a therapist, but there’s only so much I can do. (Also, I’m still on vacation, for two more days.)
Do you see what the world needs in my other photos for today?
Personally, I don’t think the world needs all this pumpkin spice.
Do you see what the world needs in these tweets?
I think the world needs us to preserve our favorite sounds from nature.
Today’s post is titled “Strong Encouragement” because (1) we could all use some and (2) I captured these two images at my local supermarket last night:
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Do you see strong encouragement in my other images for today?
In college, I needed strong encouragement to read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which included horrific scenes about how the sausage is made.
Two nights ago, when my very busy brain woke me up and prevented me from getting back to sleep, I tweeted this …
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I received very many helpful responses about very busy brains.
My very busy brain did come up with this mantra a month ago: “I am at peace. We are all one, connected.“ However, when my very busy brain is interfering with my sleep, I have trouble remembering it! This reminds me of the very first time I ever noticed the very busy Jeff Goldblum.
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Do you see evidence of very busy brains in my other images for today?
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Just like Scorpio Rising …
… I calm my very busy brain by spending time in nature and photographing it. Here are some photos I took within 20 busy miles from where I grew up:
Very busy brains tend to go into the future, often with worry about what will be. We need to refocus, over and over again, on the precious present moment.
My very-busy-brained husband, Michael, suggested yesterday that we calm our very busy brains by committing, once again, to no worry for a year. We tried that once before, starting in April 2019, and, unfortunately, our brains got very busy with worry in March of 2020, when I and very many other people came down with COVID.
Do any other very busy brains want to join me and Michael in committing to no worry for a year?
My very busy brain goes into the future and the past, so here’s one of my very favorite TV show theme songs from the distant past:
My very busy brain looks forward to some very busy activity in the comments section, below.
Finally, here’s some very busy gratitude for all who help me create these very busy posts, including YOU!
In all the time zones of the USA, today is Mother’s Day, and I am comforted by good memories of my late mother. My mother tried her best to give comfort to others and created many comfort zones during her long life.
Here’s my mother creating a comfort zone for my late father when they were young…
and for my father and their two best friends many years later:
Memories of my mother are comfort zones for me. And as you can see, we both experienced zones near the ocean as comfort zones.
Trying to make Twitter more of a comfort zone, I posted this tweet a few minutes ago:
Today, I’m getting ready to travel for the first time since the pandemic created so many discomfort zones. I’m expecting some discomfort flying tomorrow to an unfamiliar place in a different time zone — Nashville.
Last night, I had discomforting dreams about singing my original songs in Nashville. One of them — “I Left the House Before I Felt Ready” — is about comfort and discomfort zones. Strangely, I woke up comforted after that dream, thinking, “Well, I doubt things will go THAT badly.”
Tweeting used to be out of my comfort zone, but no longer.
Do you see comfort zones in my photos from yesterday?
Here’s where my thoughts are going — to my debut performance of “I Left the House Before I Felt Ready” when I FORGOT my own words, which always throws me out of my comfort zone:
Sharing vulnerabilities can create comfort zones for yourself and others.
I just increased my comfort zone by booking my 6:30 AM Lyft to the airport for tomorrow.
Also, the person who created Mother’s Day for me just contacted me from Scotland, which really expanded my comfort zone.
Please make this blog more of a comfort zone by expressing your thoughts and feelings in the comments zone below.
Gratitude always increases my comfort zones, so thanks to all who help me get into the blogging zone every day, including YOU!
Yesterday, after Joe Biden was finally projected to be the next President of the United States, there was dancing in the streets!
While there was dancing in the streets all around the world, I took these photos on a gorgeous day:
Michael didn’t dance in the streets with my friend Barbara and me, but he danced in his own way yesterday.
I’m looking forward to many more days of dancing in the streets (which I do when I listen to music, no matter what day it is). There’s sure to be a lot more hope and joy in my street dancing now.
Thanks to Barbara, Michael, everybody dancing in the streets, and YOU!
Last week I wrote a blog post about how much I’ll be feeling blue if the USA does not turn blue this next election. Yesterday, I saw this at a supermarket in the very blue state of Massachusetts:
Under that “FEELING BLUE?” headline, it says “You’re not alone” — which is one of the major healing factors of group therapy.
Michael was feeling blue soon after I took that photo when he noticed a grocery bagger wearing a mask BELOW his nose. Conflict makes Michael feel blue, but he still asked that supermarket employee to pull his mask up properly. We both feel blue when we go to this supermarket, because we almost always notice employees with their noses hanging out. When we see these kinds of behaviors, we talk ourselves blue in the face trying to figure out what people are thinking and why mask wearing isn’t better enforced in SUPERMARKETS, for heaven’s sake.
Before that blue period, I took this photo at that supermarket yesterday because these rubber ducks looked like they were feeling blue, hanging in the frozen foods section in this netting.
I didn’t know until later that Michael was feeling blue enough to buy those ducks and set them free.
If you’re feeling blue, you might enjoy some of the other images I captured yesterday near the very blue city of Boston.
Harley has not been feeling blue lately. Have you?
