Yesterday morning, before the bottom dropped out at the USA Capitol Building in Washington, people in my Coping and Healing group discussed experiences of when the bottom drops out, including how that feels and how to cope. By sharing those experiences of when the bottom drops out and realizing they were not alone, the group members lifted each other up. I suggested that when the bottom drops out again they look down, feel their feet securely on the floor, and realize that the bottom is still there, even if it feels like it has dropped out.
According to an online definition, the bottom drops out “alludes to collapsing deeper than the very lowest point, or bottom.”
Yesterday afternoon, the current inhabitant of the White House collapsed deeper than his previous lowest point/bottom, inciting his followers to violently disrupt the transfer of power in the country I love.
As the whole world watched in horror, the bottom dropped out in the USA yesterday. Those of us who are familiar with malignant narcissists like Trump know that the bottom will drop out even LOWER if he remains in office.
When the bottom drops out, I’m too upset to take many photos, so here are all my recent images from top to bottom:
What do you do when the bottom drops out? When the bottom drops out for me, I reach out for people I love and trust, I anchor myself in the present moment, and I tell myself, “It’s safer than it feels.”
Therefore, I’m going to post, again, the video I shared on this blog yesterday, before the bottom dropped out, of audience members at the Stephen Colbert Show lifting up the late, great U.S. congressman from Georgia, John Lewis, as he crowd-surfed above them.
It makes me cry, here and now, to see how far the bottom has dropped out of my country.
Here is Senator Amy Klobuchar speaking to Stephen Colbert last night about her experience of when the bottom dropped out yesterday:
Here‘s Stephen Colbert showing a lot of feeling in his live monologue last night after the bottom dropped out and before his interview with Senator Klobuchar:
And here‘s his interview with Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger about his experience of when the bottom dropped out.
If you have any thoughts or feelings about when the bottom drops out, please drop a comment, below.
Now that you’ve reached the bottom here, thanks — from the bottom of my heart — to all who help me drop a blog post every day, including you.
Yesterday, my beloved long-time friend Barbara headed over to our place for our first in-person meeting since the pandemic. After she parked her car and saw me waiting for her outside, the realities of the coronavirus momentarily went right out of her head and she instinctively hugged me — I turned my head away during the hug. Then, we headed out for a walk and a delicious lunch outside, wearing masks on our heads.
Our conversational topics were headed up by:
the current head of the United States,
systemic racism,
other things that are worrying our heads (like voting and bureaucracies),
photography, and
how Barbara helps her partner, Jim, get his head out of the sand and how Jim helps Barbara get out of her head.
I have it in my head, here and now, that there will be many heads in my recently captured images.
I usually have it in my head that the Daily Bitch calendar will somehow relate to my daily blog post and sure enough, the name of this adorable neighborhood dog with the amazing head …
Yesterday, after making minor adjustments so we could connect beautifully on a ZOOM call, my friend Barbara and I talked about her brilliant realization that major issues like the current pandemic can become much more bearable if you make minor adjustments.
During the call, we made minor adjustments so we could see and hear each other better and we discussed minor adjustments to important relationships, interpersonal strategies, our health, nature walks near us, our living spaces, our diet, our weight, Zen-like attitudes, and high school connections. Here are the photos I took of Barbara while we were talking about minor adjustments:
That’s Barbara showing me a sunset outside her window and also a view within her apartment which reminds her of a Thomas McKnight painting. Later in the day she sent me a better photo of that view which I should be able to find and share once I make some minor adjustments. Hold on ….
Those minor adjustments included saving the draft of this post, shutting down my laptop, using my iPhone to find and include that photo, saving the post again, and restarting my laptop to continue creating this post, but I’ve adjusted to the minor adjustments required to bring you these blog posts, every day.
Do you see minor adjustments in any of the other adjusted images I’ve captured recently?
Yes, I sometimes need to make minor adjustments to my self esteem and reading helpful feedback like Maddie’s helps in a very major way. The minor adjustment I would make to that text exchange is the fact that I am no longer President of my local group therapy organization. I am having no trouble adjusting to that.
Also, I’m making minor adjustments to the original song I’m planning on singing at my Zoom-based 50th high school reunion in September. I’ve adjusted this verse …
Now it’s 2020 and we’re all here
To connect over food and beer
To embrace the living and to miss our dead
As we gather here in Marblehead.
… to this …
Now it’s 2020 and we’re all here
To connect and give each other cheer,
To appreciate the living and to miss our dead
As we gather here on Zoom instead …. of Marblehead.
Knowing me, I’ll keep making minor adjustments to that song until I sing it on September 12.
I just made the minor adjustment of following Zaccai Curtis on YouTube.
Please feel free to express minor or major thoughts about minor adjustments in the comments section, below.
Gratitude is another minor adjustment with major effects, so thanks to Barbara, Maddie, Zaccai Curtis, Thomas McKnight, my family, my high school friends, adjusting cats, and everybody else who helps me create and adjust these daily blog posts, including YOU!
Yesterday was a day of ordinary miracles, especially because miraculous blogger Beth sent us this extraordinary hand-made condolence card for the loss of our ordinary miracle of a cat, Oscar.
It’s a day of ordinary miracles when a miraculously wonderful person like Beth gets me in such a profound way. Yesterday was also a day of ordinary miracles because somebody in my Coping and Healing groups said, “It’s great to have a group like this where other people get you.” These days, it’s an ordinary miracle when people get each other.
Yesterday was also a day of ordinary miracles because my 22-year-old son Aaron agreed to take a walk with his mother. Let’s see if you can see ordinary miracles in my other photos from yesterday:
It would be an ordinary miracle if you could find Aaron in one of those photos.
Here’s what The Daily Bitch Calendar has to say about another day of ordinary miracles:
I am woman, hear me
sigh,
cry,
try,
laugh,
speak up,
lead,
follow, and
blog*.
Gratitude always creates a day of ordinary miracles, so many thanks to Beth, my son Aaron, Dr. Jenny Taitz, Marconi Union, and the other ordinarily miraculous ones who sustain me in this blogging journey, including YOU.
* For other days of ordinary miracles, see the rest of the thousands of posts for this daily blog.**
** Because it’s been so long, it’s an ordinary miracle that I remember how to insert asterisks here and now.
