Day 3385: A circle of caring

Yesterday, I saw this card about a circle of caring:

I believe that a circle of caring surrounds me here and elsewhere, as I circle around my life. And as a group therapist, I strongly believe in the healing power of circles of caring.

Because today is a Monday holiday in my home state of Massachusetts, I get to experience another circle of self care before I work again tomorrow.

Do you see circles of caring in my other images for today?

The National Day Calendar doesn’t list Patriots’ Day, probably because there’s such a small circle of U.S. states caring about that.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “a circle of caring.”

I look forward to a circle of caring in the comments section, below.

A circle of caring and gratitude to all who are in my circle of caring, including YOU!

Day 3357: I know this much is true

“I Know This Much is True” by Spandau Ballet is running through my head right now:

I know this much is true:

• Innocent people are dying because of the actions of terrible leaders.
• My suffering does not alleviate the suffering of others.
• There are many wonderful people on this earth.
• People are causing irreparable damage to this earth.
• Some things can be repaired.
• Cats are personal medicine for many of us humans.
• I have trouble making certain types of decisions.
• People grieve according to their own timetable.
• Being kind to others and to myself is a priority for me.
• My husband Michael is a fabulous cook.
• It’s often healing to realize that you are not alone.
• I share thoughts, feelings, and images on this blog to prepare for each day and to connect with others.

I know this much is true: it’s important to celebrate whatever you can these days.

True thanks to all who know their personal truths, including YOU.

Day 3355: Awkward Moments

I hope it’s not awkward that I’m letting you know that yesterday was National Awkward Moments Day.

We’ve all had awkward moments and I believe we feel less awkward when we realize we’re not alone. Therefore, I asked this awkward question on Twitter last night:

While I truly appreciate reading everyone’s responses to that, nobody has asked about my memorable awkward moment. Awkward!

The one that comes to my mind is when I was talking to one of my parents’ friends about movies and I thought I asked him if he had seen “Wait Until Dark,” a thriller with Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin which had scared the bejeesus out of me and my parents’ friend said, “Yes, I did and that was soooo funny that I couldn’t stop laughing,” and I awkwardly didn’t know what to say or do so I said, very awkwardly, “Well, I guess it was a little improbable” and then much later it occurred to me that I had said “A Shot in the Dark” by mistake, which was a hilarious Pink Panther movie with Peter Sellars.

Awkward!

And I feel awkward admitting that I spent so many moments, since then, feeling awkward about this trivial incident. I’m realizing, though, that I’ve felt considerably less awkward since I shared this story in a blog post here several years ago.

I guess any awkwardness shared can become less awkward.

Do you see any awkward moments in my images for today?

One of the awkward moments shared on my awkward-moment Twitter thread was a person saying something negative about somebody not realizing their microphone was on during a ZOOM call. Awkward!

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “awkward moments.”

Feel free to share any awkward moments in the comments section, below. (Whenever I use the phrase “feel free,” I remember somebody telling me about an awkward moment when a friend of hers, who was a waitress, misspoke those words to a customer and said “free feel!” instead, and the customer said, “Thanks, but no.”)

Thanks to all who have awkward moments, including YOU.

Day 3353: Shared Stories

As a group therapist and as a human being, I believe that the more we share stories, the more we connect with each other.

Yesterday morning, I watched President Zelenskyy share powerful, heartbreaking, unforgettable stories about the Russian invasion of Ukraine with the U.S. Congress. I witnessed, for the first time in a long time, American lawmakers unite in response to the shared stories.

Do you see shared stories in my images for today?

In this blog, I have shared stories about my absolutely incredible kid, and I hope to share many more stories with you in the future.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “shared stories.”

I look forward to reading any shared stories in the comments section, below.

Thanks to all who help me create shared stories here, including YOU.

Day 3073: Big Dreams, Small Spaces

Yesterday’s blog post was about strong encouragement, and today I am strongly encouraging you to watch the charming gardening show “Big Dreams, Small Spaces.”

After Michael completes our big dream of refinishing our decks, we are going to start having big dreams about replanting our small garden spaces. “Big Dreams, Small Spaces” is already giving us some big ideas. The episode we watched last night featured a couple who live near the sea, and we saw the wonderful Monty Don — Britain’s top gardener — recommend plantings that would thrive in the winds and salt of that environment.

Do you see big dreams and/or small spaces in my images for today?

That last image shows Monty Don of “Big Dreams, Small Spaces” and here he is with some tips and tricks on gardening and planting:

Feel free to express some big dreams in the small spaces of the comments section, below.

Big thanks from me to all who help me share my dreams in this small blogging space, including YOU!

Day 2531: Feelings

Yesterday in a therapy group, people felt comfortable and brave enough to talk about and show their feelings, including sadness, joy, anger, and fear.

Another group therapist recently told me that a member of his group said, “In group, joy is doubled and fear is halved.”

I have many good feelings about being a group therapist.

Are there any  feelings  in and about my other photos from yesterday?

 

Spotify tells me that I listened to “Hajanga” by Jacob Collier more than any other song in 2019.  That’s because

• no matter what my feelings were in 2019, Hajanga always helped me feel better and
• I listened to it over and over again when I was driving to and from Westport, Massachusetts for the wake of my dear friend Tony.

Here‘s a live 2019 version of Jacob playing “Hajanga” at MIT:

 

Of course, I’m wondering about your feelings now.

As always, I’m feeling gratitude for all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.

 

 

 

Day 2370: The conversations you didn’t know you needed

“The conversations you didn’t know you needed” could be part of an advertisement for group therapy.

It’s also a phrase I photographed between my two “Coping and Healing” groups yesterday.

Did you know you needed these conversations?

What about these conversations?

If you need another look at my “poetic”  conversation about family (pictured a few conversations above), here it is:

I’m going to try to write a poem about family,

It’s probably not going to be very grammarly,

Families are where we are born,

They can make us happy or forlorn,

You can pick your nose but you can’t pick your family.

Here’s a recap of some other important conversations photographed above:

Ignore the environment, it will go away …

The best things in life aren’t things …

Don’t compare your insides to other people’s outsides.

Never worry alone.

If you need important conversations about this blog post, please participate below.

I don’t know about you, but I always need conversations about gratitude, so thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to YOU.

Day 2062: Performing Together

Yesterday, inside the Music Museum at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (where people from all over the world are performing together), I saw this:

In these days of divisiveness, performing together seems more vital than I can ever remember before.

Can you see the theme of performing together in my other photos from yesterday?

People in Edinburgh are so into performing together that when we asked our adorable server to take our picture last night at the Cellar Door Restaurant, she had to get into the act.

I look forward to seeing how my readers will be performing together in the comment section, below.

As always, I appreciate all those performing together in this blog, including YOU!

Day 1951: Vivian

Vivian is a social work intern who makes me smile, especially when she shows me photos like this:

Yesterday, Vivian and I  made each other cry because it was her last day at work.  Soon, as a new graduate,  she’ll be off on her own road trip to Chicago.

In the final Friday therapy group she facilitated with me, we discussed goodbyes and helpful phrases like “The pain of a loss is a direct reflection of the importance of the connection” and “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Vivian, who is a very gifted student, shared many gifts yesterday.

In honor of the many  things Vivian and I shared this year,  here‘s Jackie Chan singing “Believe in Yourself.”

I hope Vivian believes in herself,  as many of us in her community believe in her.

Vivian let me know she appreciates my gratitude. I am very grateful for Vivian, Jackie Chan, Nikita Gill, A. A. Milne, Rupi Kaur, healing groups and communities, and — of course! — YOU.

Day 1887: Chaos

About six months ago (but who’s counting?), I published a blog post with the same title as this one.   At the risk of somehow spreading the chaos in today’s news, I want to quote how chaos came up in my group therapy presentation yesterday. This happened in the question and answer period after I described how my open-access groups work in a primary care practice in a renowned teaching hospital in Boston.

Audience member: Ann, I am assuming you are comfortable with chaos. How do you deal with it in your groups, which people can attend as they choose?

Me: When you give people access to the behavioral health care they need, there is less chaos than you might expect.

I actually do not experience chaos in my therapy groups, but I do experience more of it, these days,  in the world outside my groups. As I said in my presentation yesterday, I believe people need the support of therapy groups even more in today’s chaotic world.

What do you see in the chaos of today’s pictures?

Even in all this chaos, I’ve got video. Somebody else on my discussion panel yesterday (Moving Forward: Opportunities for Group in the New Health Care Environment) showed a video like this:

I’ve also got video of some music to help deal with chaos:

I look forward to the chaos of your comments.

Chaotic thanks to all who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to YOU.