Day 3290: The story of us

The story of today’s blog post starts with this photo that I snapped yesterday at the supermarket:

I took that when my husband Michael and I (who recently had our second wedding anniversary) were doing our weekly food shopping. The story of us at that supermarket was our wearing N95 masks because of the Omnicron variant while many people (including those who worked at the supermarket) were not wearing any masks at all .

The story of us human beings has to include our working together to survive pandemics and global warming without destroying the stories of too many other species.

The story of us is a very anxiety-provoking story these days.

Do you see the story of us in my other images for today?

The story of us often includes our trying to read each other’s minds (a common human cognitive distortion, described here), but I cannot even try to read the minds of people who don’t wear masks in supermarkets.

Here’s “The Story of Us” by Taylor Swift.

The story of me today includes my going in to the hospital to listen to other people’s stories in therapy sessions. I’ll be doing my best to stay safe so I can continue the story of us in this daily blog.

The story of us always includes my gratitude for all who follow my story here, including YOU.

Day 3269: Do you want to have a conversation?

Yesterday, I asked our talkative cat Joan, “Do you want to have a conversation?”

According to the definition …

… maybe “conversation” is the wrong word. However, I seem to be having conversations with many non-people these days, including conversations like these:

Do you want to have a conversation about what it’s like to have those kinds of conversations for months and months? Or do you want to have a conversation about my other images for today?

Do you want to have a conversation about the conversation that the Daily Bitch is describing today? Or do you want to have a conversation about the Stephen Sondheim song I quoted in my Twitter conversation?

I love the way that Audra McDonald, Christine Baranski, and Meryl Streep are having conversations with each other and with Stephen Sondheim during his 90th birthday celebration in 2020.

Do you want to have a conversation with other people in this blog? If so, please leave a comment, below.

Do you want to have a conversation about gratitude? I do! Thanks to all who are reading this conversational blog post, including YOU.

Day 3261: Great courage

It takes great courage to face another challenging day and to show up here, now.

Do you see great courage in my images for today?

“International Ninja Day” reminds me of the great courage shown in the Ninja Cat video:

I guess great courage includes knowing when to run away!

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “great courage.”

If you leave a comment, below, I appreciate your great courage in doing so.

Thanks to my blogging friend beth for the awesome holiday card and to all who show great courage during difficult times, including YOU!

Day 3192: National Day of Forgiveness

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.

I find forgiveness in this beautiful music by Beethoven:

How are you going to celebrate this National Day of Forgiveness?

I am grateful for every day I get to celebrate with forgiving people, including YOU.

Day 3170: What does the world need?

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.

Here’s a great song about what the world needs:

I think the world needs comments from you about what the world needs.

What the world also needs is gratitude, so thanks to all who read this blog, including YOU.

Day 3128: When you look around you, what do you see?

Yesterday, as I was looking around me, I posted this on Twitter:

As I expected, the answers to my question opened up new and wonderful windows for me to look through.

Here’s what I saw when I looked around me yesterday:

When you look around you, what do you see? I’ll look for your comments later.

I looked around YouTube and saw this:

When I look around me, I see and feel gratitude, so thanks to everyone who helps me see more and more each day, including you!

Day 3100: Now is the perfect time to be brave and courageous.

Now is the perfect time to be brave and courageous, because why wait? Life is short, my brave and courageous friends.

Now is the perfect time to look at all my images for now.

.

Now is the perfect time to be brave and courageous and now is the perfect time for peace.

Now is the perfect time to tell you that I rocked my workshop and my speech yesterday!

Now is the perfect time to share what I find when I search YouTube for “now is the perfect time to be brave and courageous.”

Now is the perfect time to leave a comment and now is the perfect time to express my thanks and appreciation for all of you!

Day 3072: Strong Encouragement

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:

.

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.

Do you need strong encouragement to watch and listen to the twins hearing Steely Dan’s “Do It Again” for the first time?

If so, I strongly encourage you to read this comment:

What does strong encouragement mean to you?

In case you didn’t know, I’m always grateful for the strong encouragement you give me to keep on blogging, every day.

Day 3058: Very busy brains

Two nights ago, when my very busy brain woke me up and prevented me from getting back to sleep, I tweeted this …

.

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.

.

Do you see evidence of very busy brains in my other images for today?

.

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!

Day 3051: Comfort zones

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!