Day 1869: A painful process

Since I fell and tore my rotator cuff, life has been a painful process. Yesterday, when I was processing with other group therapists, somebody with true wisdom showed me this cartoon:

That painful couch reminds me of the shoulder pain that’s been waking me up in the middle of the night ever since I tore my rotator cuff.

To deal with this painful process, I’m writing a new set of lyrics to “The Lion Sleeps at Night.”

Ann Can’t Sleep at Night

“Wimmaway” chorus:

It hurts so bad, it makes me sad, it make me mad, and not too glad.

It hurts so bad, it makes me sad, it makes me mad, and not too glad.

EEEE-EEEE-EEEEE-EEEEE-EEEEE-EEEEE-EEEE-EEEE-EEEEEK ! (or any painful cry)

Verse 1:

Tear your rotator cuff and it will be hard to sleep at night.

With her rotator cuff-related pain, Ann can’t sleep at night.

It hurts so bad, it makes her sad, it makes her mad, and not so glad.

It hurts so bad, it makes her sad, it makes her mad, and not so glad.

EEEE-EEEE-EEEEE-EEEEE-EEEEE-EEEEE-EEEE-EEEE-EEEEEK !

Verse 2:

In the bedroom, the quiet bedroom, Ann can’t sleep at night.

In the bedroom, the quiet bedroom, she doesn’t feel all right.

It hurts so bad, it makes her sad, it makes her mad, and not so glad.

It hurts so bad, it makes her sad, it makes her mad, and not so glad.

EEEE-EEEE-EEEEE-EEEEE-EEEEE-EEEEE-EEEE-EEEE-EEEEEK !

Verse 3:

Hush that yelling, with all that yelling, the cats can’t sleep at night.

Hush that yelling and grab a laptop, and do your best to write.

EEEEK-EEEEK-EEEEEEK, EEEEEEK-EEEEEK-EEEEEK,EEEEEEk-EEEEEK-EEEEK-EEEEK-EEEEEEK.

If you want to join in this painful process,  you can sing along here.

 

Taking photos is more of a painful process, but that’s not stopping me.

Despite the painful process of life, I’ve had at least 40 years of fun.

Now it’s your turn to deal with the painful process of leaving a comment.

Thanks to all who are supporting me through this painful process, including YOU.

Day 1865: Abilities

Yesterday, in a therapy session, somebody was talking about her learning disability.   This disability — and  other people’s inability to recognize her strengths when she was younger — has resulted in her disability to see herself as smart enough.  Like most people, she has the ability to compare herself to other people and judge herself “less than.” Because of my ability as a therapist, I invited this person to  look at her ability to learn, understand, and do many things.

Because of my ability for falling on the sidewalk last week and injuring my dominant arm, I am now dealing with (I hope!) temporary disability.  This disability is interfering with my ability to

• open doors,
• reach for anything above my waist,
• wave hello or goodbye, and
• write on the whiteboard during group therapy sessions.

However, this disability is not interfering in my ability to blog, read, sing, walk, talk, smile, laugh, or listen.

As always, it helps to refocus on abilities.

Orthopedics had no ability to schedule an appointment for me until Friday, so I was not able to get more information about my disability yesterday.  However, I was able  to keep an appointment yesterday with an eye doctor. On the way to that appointment, I saw somebody who had the ability to wear a great hat.

Then, he had the ability to put that hat on my head and take these three photos:

Honestly, I wouldn’t have had the ability to put that hat on my  head without some assistance.

I did have the ability to take one more photo yesterday, in a co-worker’s office.

That cautious co-worker and I have the ability to perform a new version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” at a Social Worker party on Friday.   I had the ability to write new words to that song and I have the ability to blog about that, too.

I also have the ability to find, on YouTube, this previous performance of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” at a social worker party three years ago:

 

I believe I now have the ability to sing that song with more confidence.

I know you have the ability to leave a comment and I have the ability to thank all who helped me create today’s post.

 

Day 1827: How do I look?

How do I look?

If I want to see clearly, I look with glasses.

How do these possible new avatars look?

 

 

How do I look?  If I want to see something interesting, I look around me.

 

How do I look at that torn leg on that beautiful tiger? The same way I look at my own scars  and the scars of others.

With compassion.

How do you look? Do you look happy for the new year?

How do I look at that last photo? With the realization that we need to look at the dark and the light to see it all.

How do I look when I sing, nervous but not afraid?

 

My New Year’s resolution:  not to worry so much about how I look.

How do I look for comments?  Below each post.

How do I look for gratitude? Everywhere.

 

 

Day 1587: All kinds of time

When I was spending all kinds of time yesterday getting new batteries for all kinds of watches, I saw this:

Because I’m all kinds of polite, I didn’t open a book that didn’t belong to me, so I don’t know what kinds of time Harry Behn had in mind.

In the present time, my mind is having all kinds of thoughts about different kinds of time, including

• teatime
• facetime
• playtime
• noontime
• daytime
• nighttime
• naptime
• springtime
• wintertime
• summertime
• dinnertime
• lunchtime
• flextime
• showtime
• downtime
• sometime
• anytime
• halftime
• wartime
• peacetime
• lifetime.

If I had all kinds of time to write today’s post, I’d probably think of other kinds of time. Can you?

There’s no kind of time like nowtime, so here are all kinds of other photos from yesterday:

That’s Ari, who spent all kinds of time last night singing a great original song  at the Jam’n Java Open Mic in Arlington, Massachusetts. Ari previously appeared in this kind of blog post from all kinds of time ago.

I spent all kinds of time singing last night, too. I considered singing “Summertime,” but I sang this instead, with all kinds of accompaniment:

I’m looking forward to all kinds of comments.

All kinds of gratitude to all those who help me create all kinds of blog posts (including this one) and to you — of course! — for being kind enough to visit this time.

Day 1550: Worrying and Planning

Earlier this week, I spoke to somebody in therapy who believed  worrying was a necessary part of planning.

I replied, without worrying about it, “No, no, no, no. Worrying is never helpful.  Never.”

While I rarely plan to use all-or-nothing statements like that, I do believe that worrying never helps. People often believe that worrying helps motivate planning. Actually, worrying wastes valuable time and energy while you’re planning.  Planning is much more productive and fun without the burden of worrying.

Even though we weren’t planning on it, we had a good discussion about the uselessness of worrying.  At the end of the therapy session, we both said, “No worries.”

Right now, I’m planning

• to sing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” accompanying myself on a Kalimba and
• to see a house by the water, which we might make an offer on.

I’ve been planning to write today’s blog post in order to let go of any worrying about all that.

I’m planning on sharing all the photos I took yesterday, without any worrying.

Are you worrying about what music I’m planning to include here?

If you’re planning on leaving a comment, I’m not worrying about that, either.

I’m always planning to end each post with gratitude to all who helped me create it and to you — of course! — no matter what you’re planning today.

Day 1549: If you could be any animal, which would you be?

If I could be any animal besides a human, I’d be a duck, because a duck

• is adept in air, water, and land,
• quacks,
• looks great,
• is very sociable, and
• likes being in groups.

Yesterday, after my therapy group, when I was being sociable with the nurses at work, I noticed  they had chosen a different animal for me.

If I could be any animal besides a human or a duck, I’d be a butterfly, because a butterfly

• is adept in the air,
• spends a lot of time around flowers,
• looks great, and
• changes in very profound ways.

If you could be any animal, would you be any of these?

If you could be any animal interviewing for a job, you might find this useful:

If you could choose any musical number about any animal, which would it be? The animals at YouTube just suggested two  (here and here):

The Lion King medley reminds me that I’ll be singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” for groups of animals, very soon.

Thanks to all the animals that helped me create this post and to you — of course! — no matter what animal you’d be.

Day 1527: The Element of Surprise

Yesterday, at work, I was surprised to see this:

Oh my Gawwd!  I can’t believe that I’m still surprised by anything, after all the years and all the experiences I’ve been through.

Would it surprise you to know that I’ve been thinking and talking a lot about surprises lately?

For example, I am no longer surprised by actions and words from people that are completely consistent with what they’ve done and said before. There’s no element of surprise in my saying, over and over again, to anybody who will listen:

That’s just so-and-so being so-and-so.

I think I surprised somebody, yesterday, when he responded to my repeated request for help with, “That is SO low on my list of ….” and I pointed my finger at him and said, “Don’t finish that sentence!”

But that was just so-and-so being so-and-so.

Are there any elements of surprise in my other photos from yesterday?

There might be an element of surprise in my now posting my voice from a previous post, Day 811: Changing the Inner World.

I won’t be surprised if people are themselves in their comments, below.

Any element of surprise in my ending this post like so?

… to everyone who helps me create this blog and to you — of course! — for reading it.

Day 1266: Something You Like

Something I like to think is that reading my blog is something you like.

Is seeing this photo something you like?

Something I like is singing in front of people to the best of my ability without fear. Something you might like is that I absolutely did that, yesterday, at The Voice tryouts in New York City.

I didn’t get a red card for a callback and getting a callback is something I like. However, here’s something  I like almost as much: I let go of disappointment immediately, because

1. I knew I sang great,
2. I can’t control what The Voice is looking for,
3. My increasing confidence is going to help me sing more in public, and
4. There are so many other somethings in my life that I like.

Is there something you like in my other photos from yesterday?

 

 

 

 

Something I like is singing  my tryout song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” a capella, like these guys (here on YouTube, if you like):

Is Acapella Soul something you like?  What about leaving comments?

One more thing I like: sharing some things I like with you, every day.

 

Day 811: Changing the Inner World

Three days ago, I wrote a post called “Changing the _____ World.”

Yesterday, I saw an image that would have been perfect for that post.

While there was a time when I would have regretted seeing or doing something “too late,” I’ve been changing my inner world enough to let go of regrets.

As long as I’m still here and blogging, I can show you new things I experience, whenever I choose.

Sharing that image with you — here and now — changed my inner world, in some way. Everything does.

Here are more images from yesterday,  changing my inner world:

I am grateful I am alive each day, changing my inner world with every breath.

Two nights ago, I changed my inner world by overcoming anxiety to sing and conduct other singers at a party. Here’s a video of that:

How do you change your inner world?

World-changing thanks to all those appearing in this blog today, to my friend and co-worker Mark for capturing Friday night’s performance (as instructed), to Ali the harpist, to my fellow social workers for the vocal support, to Maria from WordPress for helping me upload The Lion Sleeps Tonight at YouTube a day “late” (and with perfect timing), and to you — of course! — for changing my world, each time you visit.

Day 809: Comfort Zones

At a therapy group last night, we focused on the topic of comfort zones.

People spoke, wrote, and drew images about comfort, discomfort, and challenging/going outside of their comfort zones.

Here’s something else I wrote, yesterday, on a whiteboard in the comfort zone of my office, hoping to reduce the discomfort caused by the uncomfortable cognitive distortion of mind-reading:

Here are some comfort  zones I saw yesterday:

I’m still not completely in a comfort zone with this sleep machine:

…. but I got enough comfortable sleep last night. That’s comforting, because

1. I  am going outside my comfort zone this evening, when I sing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” at a party and
2. immediately after that, I’ll be seeing the comfortably funny while seemingly uncomfortable comedian, Steven Wright.

Why is singing in public a discomfort zone for me? Because of this: when I was very young, I zoned out on stage and forgot the lyrics while I was singing, once.

No matter what happens this evening, I hope to increase my comfort zone about singing in public.

It is well within my comfort zone to post videos in this blog. So, here’s an in-the-zone, a capella street version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (also in a comfort zone at YouTube).

Also from The YouTube Zone, here is Steven Wright’s first 1982 appearance on the Tonight Show, when he left behind the comfort zone of the local Boston comedy clubs:

What are your thoughts about comfort, discomfort, and comfort zones?

Comfortable thanks to lions and cats, sleep and sleep machines,  A Capella Soul, Steven Wright, people who work on decreasing their discomfort and increasing their comfort in group and individual therapy, those who are brave enough to leave their comfort zones, and you — of course! — for visiting this blogging zone, today.