that somebody was stoned when Michael and I gathered with my son Aaron and my ex-in-laws for my first social gathering since March. I don’t think so, but who knows? And even though it might not look like it, I kept a stone’s throw distance from my son Aaron and my ex-in-laws, too.
You might think that I chose the title for today’s post because I took these photos of stones yesterday:
You might think I was stoned when I took some of these photos, but I was not.
Who needs to get stoned when I can look at scenes like these?
Do Harley or Oscar look stoned?
I wonder if Oscar will feel stoned when I bring him out for a walk in his new stroller.
Here‘s Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and many others performing “Everybody Must Get Stoned” at Farm Aid in 1986:
Please don’t throw any stones when you comment on this “Stoned” post, below.
One of my signature moves is sharing the Daily Bitch calendar:
Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we all need to practice this signature move of pushing everyone away. At least, however, we don’t have to wonder why we’re alone.
Another one of my signature moves is taking photos of what moves me.
Harley and Oscar have very different signature moves (as you can see in this post).
When I’m petty, I feel guilty. When I observe other people being petty, I get scared, because I’ve observed pettiness wreaking havoc with relationships.
Here’s a definition of petty:
pet·ty
/ˈpedē/
adjective
1. of little importance; trivial.
“the petty divisions of party politics”
synonyms: trivial, trifling, minor, small, slight, unimportant, insignificant, inessential, inconsequential, inconsiderable, negligible, paltry, footling, fiddling, niggling, pettifogging, nugatory, of little account
2. of secondary or lesser importance, rank, or scale; minor.
“a petty official”
My personal goal for today is to make other people being petty of little importance, trivial, minor, small, slight, insignificant, inconsequential, and negligible to me.
Reproof should not exhaust its power on petty failings. — Samuel Johnson
More than jealousy or possessiveness pettiness kills love. — Marty Rubin
Don’t be afraid of failure; be afraid of petty success. — Maude Adams
Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out — it’s the grain of sand in your shoe. — Robert Service
The art of giving orders is not to try to rectify the minor blunders and not to be swayed by petty doubts. — Sun Tzu
The constant petty behests of life permit few opportunities for major satisfactions, and when one is offered it should be seized. — Rex Stout
Petty things don’t bother me as much as they used to — Rebecca Lobo
Mankind accepts good fortune as his due, but when bad occurs, he thinks it was aimed at him, done to him, a hex, a curse, a punishment by his deity for some transgression, as though his god were a petty storekeeper, counting up the day’s receipts. — Sheri S. Tepper
It is better to lose everything you have to keep the balance of justice level, than to live a life of petty privilege devoid of true freedom. — Bryant H. McGill
Beware of those who attribute petty instructions to God. — Abdul Sattar Edhi
Let’s just breathe as I own that Oscar and I always watch the Oscars together.
What helps you just breathe? For 22-year-old Oscar nominee Timothee Chalamet last night, it was this video message from his high school drama teacher, Mr. Shifman:
Shifman here. I’m here with a few of LaGuardia High School’s future Oscar contenders to leave you with a few familiar words: Just breathe. You always know where home is, pal.
I always know where home is, too, especially when I just breathe.
Just breathe as you take a look at two more photos.
Do you ask, “How could this happen?” as Conan did there? Do you say, “It makes no sense to me”? “Something needs to change”? “I am truly heartbroken”?
When it’s too much to process, do you try to somehow make meaning of what’s happened? Do you try to get people to see things your way? Do you get angry? Do you give up? Do you take action? Do you try to block things from your mind? Do you distract yourself any way you can? Do you look for the good in people? Do you isolate? Do you blame? Do you pray? Do you look for any humor you can find, for moments of relief?
Here are more (usually) humorous people responding to the same too-much-to-process mass shooting:
It’s too much to process that Tom Petty is dead at age 66.
What do you do when it’s too much to process?
When it’s too much to process, I reach out to others.