Today, I give thanks for you.
I am also giving thanks for everyone and everything else, including whatever I photographed yesterday.
I give thanks for Jimi Hendrix and messages to love.
I’ll end this Thanksgiving 2019 post by repeating this message to love: I give thanks for you.
Have no doubt; I am going to explain the origin of today’s title.
Yesterday, somebody told me they attended a group session with a famous local “eraser” of addictions, depression, anxiety, and phobias, and the take-away was “Have no doubt.”
Have no doubt that I am going to share my photos from yesterday.
Have no doubt that
Have no doubt — Michael and I totally disagree about that song. One of us has a conscious bias against it and the other one doesn’t.
Have no doubt: I am looking forward to your reactions to today’s blog.
Have no doubt. I end every post trying to express …
I have the right to start off this blog post by quoting Wikipedia’s definition of rights:
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory. Rights are of essential importance in such disciplines as law and ethics, especially theories of justice and deontology.
Rights are often considered fundamental to civilization, for they are regarded as established pillars of society and culture, and the history of social conflicts can be found in the history of each right and its development. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “rights structure the form of governments, the content of laws, and the shape of morality as it is currently perceived”.
I have the right to admit that I don’t know what “deontology” means, and I have the right to free-associate that with dentistry, especially since I’m seeing my wonderful dentist today.
I have the right to practice or not practice any religion, as I choose. Last night, I had the right to listen to this beautiful rendition of Kol Nidre, which reminds me of how my late father and our synagogue’s choir sang it every Yom Kippur Eve.
I have the right to share all my photos from yesterday in any order I please.
I had the right to wonder this as I took that last photo: I wonder if I will see those I’ve lost later, after I die.
You have the right to comment or not comment on this post, however you choose.
I have the right to express my thanks and appreciation for all who help me create this daily blog and — of course! — for YOU.
One of my recurring dreams is to have a show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Much to my amazement, that will be occurring on August 19 at 13:00 (1 PM) at the Natural Food Kafe basement room. I only have one show this year, but I’m hoping the show will be recurring next year.
My show — “Group ‘Therapy’ with Ann” — is loosely based on the recurring groups that I do five times a week at work. At this point, I’m staying up and having dreams about how to make that work well since there are new and non-recurring elements I’ve never dealt with before, including:
I know that I will be using some recurring elements of my real groups, like mindfulness and a check-in where everybody will have the space and time to speak uninterrupted. In my recurring groups, I always introduce the check-in by saying what I’m curious about in the moment, as a way to suggest what people might want to share. For the purposes of my Edinburgh show, I’m planning on curiously asking people:
In my check-in, I plan on singing one of my original songs and also sharing a recurring dream I have, about trying to call somebody on the phone and not getting through.
Last night, what kept me up was my indecision, at this point, about what to do at the mid-point of the show. When I finally fell asleep, I had my recurring dream (which hasn’t occurred in years).
In my dream last night, I was trying to call Michael on my cell phone. It was incredibly difficult, because of new changes to the phone, which I couldn’t figure out. People were trying to help me connect to him, but nothing was working. Eventually, I attempted the tried-and-true method of saying to Siri, “Call Michael!” At that moment, Michael showed up. I was very relieved to see him, but it was too late for me to get to an important appointment. (The dream had other non-recurring elements, including a Trump supporter who kept trying to steal one of my boots as I was putting it on, but never mind.)
Do you have a recurring dream? Would you talk about it if you came to my show? Actually, it would be a dream for me if any of my readers showed up at my Fringe show, no matter what they decided to share.
Certain recurring dreams and themes show up in my photos. Can you spot any today?
Here’s the original song I’m going to sing during my check-in, which has had recurring appearances in this blog:
I have a recurring dream about people leaving comments, and they often do!
Recurring thanks to all who help me create this daily recurring blog, including you!
My dear blogging community,
After almost seven years of blogging daily about the healing power of community, I discover, here and now, that I have never, ever titled a post “Community” before.
COMMUNITY noun, often attributive
com·mu·ni·ty | \ kə-ˈmyü-nə-tē \
plural communities
Definition of community
1 : a unified body of individuals: such as
a : the people with common interests living in a particular area
broadly : the area itself
the problems of a large community
b : a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society
a community of retired persons
a monastic community
c : a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society
the academic community
the scientific community
d : a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests
the international community
e : a group linked by a common policy
f : an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (such as species) in a common location
g : STATE, COMMONWEALTH
2a : a social state or condition
The school encourages a sense of community in its students.
b : joint ownership or participation
community of goods
c : common character : LIKENESS
community of interests
d : social activity : FELLOWSHIP
3 : society at large
the interests of the community
If you’re looking for a definition of “community” by Merriam-Webster, that’s it.
When I look at news stories from the world community, I do not find a focus on community, Instead, I see divisiveness, “other”-ing, and antonyms of community like inequality, conflict, polarity, incompatibility, incongruence, disproportion, imbalance, disagreement, discrepancy, disparity, dissimilarity, unlikeness, forlornness, and loneliness.
Do you see community in my photos from yesterday ?
Don Henley, who used to be in a community of Eagles, has created several songs about community, including this one …
… and this one.
It’s difficult to find Don Henley songs in the community of YouTube, but here’s a slower version of “The Boys of Summer.”
I look forward to hearing from my community of readers.
No matter what community I’m in, I’m always looking for expressions of gratitude. Thanks to the community of people who helped me create this post and — of course! — thanks to YOU.
A massive and dangerous heatwave is hitting North America today, so the heat is on.
When the heat is on, it affects what images I capture.
Tonight, when the meteorologists are fortune-telling that it’s going to be 95 degrees Fahrenheit, we’ll be meeting my son at the airport. He’s returning from a month teaching English in Jordan, where the heat is on.
The heat is on in “Vital Transformation” by John McLaughlin‘s Mahavishnu Orchestra from The Inner Mounting Flame .
The heat is on is Stevie Wonder’s “Blame It On The Sun.”
Not surprisingly, the heat is on in Glenn Frey’s The Heat Is On.
I’m curious about what you do when the heat is on.
No matter what the temperature is here, I choose to feel and express gratitude for what I have, including this blog and my readers (that’s YOU).
Yesterday, when I was walking outside and being foolishly apprehensive about writing and delivering a “Report from the President” at a group therapy conference this weekend, I saw an invitation to come inside and be foolish.
Personally, I appreciate any invitation to come inside and accept all my different parts (from foolish to wise). How about you?
Here’s my next foolish thought: “The Fool” is the most evolved of all the Jungian archetypes.
The Fool/Jester archetype urges us to enjoy the process of our lives. Although the Fool/Jester can be prone to laziness and dissipation, the positive Fool/Jester invites us all out to play — showing us how to turn our work, our interactions with others, and even the most mundane tasks into FUN. The goal of the Fool/Jester is perhaps the wisest goal of all, which is just to enjoy life as it is, with all its paradoxes and dilemmas.
This fool now wants to look at a definition of “foolish.”
fool·ish
/ˈfo͞oliSH/
adjective
(of a person or action) lacking good sense or judgment; unwise.
“it was foolish of you to enter into correspondence.”synonyms: stupid, silly, idiotic, halfwitted, witless, brainless, mindless, thoughtless, imprudent, incautious, irresponsible, injudicious, indiscreet, unwise, unintelligent, unreasonable; ill-advised, ill-considered, impolitic, rash, reckless, foolhardy, lunatic; absurd, senseless, pointless, nonsensical, inane, fatuous, ridiculous, laughable, risible, derisible; informal,: dumb, dim, dimwitted, dopey, gormless, damfool, half-baked, harebrained, crackbrained, peabrained, wooden-headed, thickheaded, nutty, mad, crazy, dotty, batty, dippy, cuckoo, screwy, wacky; informal barmy, daft; informal: glaikit; informal:dumb-ass, chowderheaded; informal: dotish
“her desperation led her to do something foolish”
Her desperation led her to do something foolish; my desperation leads me to blogging. (Of course, everything leads me to blogging; I’ve been writing a daily blog in the morning for almost seven years.) (But what fool is counting?)
And if it’s foolish for me to write this blog before writing my report from the President, so be it.
Speaking of foolish, is it foolish for me to be worried about the stupid, silly, idiotic, halfwitted, witless, brainless, mindless, thoughtless, imprudent, incautious, irresponsible, injudicious, indiscreet, unwise, unintelligent, unreasonable, ill-advised, ill-considered, impolitic, rash, reckless, foolhardy, lunatic, absurd, senseless, pointless, nonsensical, inane, fatuous, ridiculous, laughable, risible, derisible, dumb, dim, dimwitted, dopey, gormless, damfool, half-baked, harebrained, crackbrained, peabrained, wooden-headed, thickheaded, nutty, mad, crazy, dotty, batty, dippy, cuckoo, screwy, wacky, barmy, daft, glaikit, dumb-ass, chowderheaded, and dotish reports from and about another President?
Worry is always foolish, because it doesn’t help anything.
Let’s be glaikit (Scottish word meaning foolish, giddy) together and look at my other foolish fotos from yesterday!
Michael was foolish enough to make LOTS of those delicious cod cakes last night. And I was foolish enough to clean my plate.
My first week of blogging, I was foolish enough to write a post about procrastination. After going inside that old post, I’m foolishly quoting it here:
if I AM going to wait until the last minute to do something, I wish to heaven I could block that procrastinated task totally out of my mind. But that’s not how it works for me. Usually, I’m exquisitely and uncomfortably aware of what I’m avoiding. Geesh. There’s got to be a way for procrastination to be more fun.
As I’ve gotten older, I have become more forgiving about my procrastinating tendencies. I’ve also realized that procrastination for me often has to do with insecurity. For example, I almost always wait until the last minute to do something that I think I might conceivably suck at doing — or, at least, where I might fall short of my own expectations and wishes.
One thing I’ve historically procrastinated about is …….. writing.
Maybe I procrastinate because I’m foolishly afraid of appearing foolish.
Here‘s the foolish song going through my foolish head, here and now:
Come inside and be foolish with a comment, below!
Finally, I shall finish this foolish post with a foolish foto to express my thanks to all those who helped me write today’s post and — of course! — to YOU. No fooling!
On the two thousandth, three hundredth, and thirty-third consecutive day of this blog, I am celebrating the first use of the word “Celebrating” in a post title.
I am also celebrating
I am celebrating all those things, and more, by sharing my images from yesterday.
I am also celebrating a new sidewalk, above, which will prevent the kind of trips that landed me on the ground with a torn rotator cuff fifteen months ago.
I’m celebrating trees and Pat Metheny with this tune that was playing yesterday while I was walking that new, safer sidewalk to work.
What might you be celebrating, here and now?
As always, this blog celebrates the power of gratitude, every day.
“You’re not going to die today” is
After yesterday’s post, I’m wondering if that feeds into denial.
Assuming we’re not going to die today, let’s look at my other photos from yesterday:
Here‘s “We Ain’t Gonna Die Today” by Atmosphere.
I’m wondering if you’re not going to leave a comment today.
Until the day I die, I have so much thanks for being alive and for you!
Hi, everyone!
Every one of my photos today could relate to everyone.
Everyone with a closed heart is driving me crazy.
That teabag is telling everyone to be kind to everyone else, but to be compassionate to oneself, in every moment. I hope everyone reading this can do that.
Everyone I know has been been encouraging me to keep writing songs. Thanks, everyone! I wrote every one of these words while I couldn’t sleep:
Don’t Call Me
Don’t call me too weepy,
too creepy, too sleepy,
too selfish, too giving,
too sensitive from living.
Don’t call me too bitchy,
too itchy or twitchy,
too soft or too loud,
too modest, too proud.
If you’re gonna type me or hype me,
pigeonhole, assign a role,
Decide I’m a saint or some asshole,
Don’t call me.
Don’t call me too funny or too serious
I find it deleterious,
So don’t call me.
© Ann Koplow, 2018
How Much Time
How much time do we have with each other?
With a friend, sibling, or mother.
We don’t know,
take it slow,
Let things grow.
How much time do we have with each other?
With a partner, child, or a brother.
It won’t last,
The die is cast.
Take it fast.
© Ann Koplow, 2018
Every one of those lyrics is mine and every one of those songs is not yet finished.
I’m going to try to memorize every one of my songs before I go to Edinburgh in August. I’ll let everyone know if I’m doing a show there.
Here‘s Van Morrison with Everyone:
I’m looking forward to everyone’s comments and I’d like to thank everyone who helps me create every one of these daily posts, including everyone who reads them (like YOU).
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 