Day 3685: Groundhog Day, again!

Well, dear readers, I made it to Groundhog Day, again, and age 70!

Whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow, there is no shadow here and it’s springtime in my soul. I’m so grateful for every precious year I’ve had and thankful that, against all odds, there’s more life ahead.

Even when I repeat mistakes and relearn lessons again (as we all do), it’s been a wonderful ride with no regrets.

Let’s see if there’s any evidence of Groundhog Day, again, in my images for today.

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Even the Daily Bitch is thankful on Groundhog Day, again!

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “Groundhog Day, again!”

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Thanks to all who are celebrating Groundhog Day, again, with me, including YOU!

Day 3364: Letting go

At the end of my Coping and Healing groups, members are letting go by throwing things away in my magic wastebasket.

I’ve witnessed people letting go of anxiety, shame, toxic people, COVID, etc. at the end of every group.

Speaking of letting go, I have a story about Joan, seen above with the magic wastebasket. Yesterday, Joan ran into the magic wastebasket room with her favorite toy mouse in her mouth and something else, letting go of both of them. Letting go of our assumptions and expectations, we realized that Joan had captured a live bird inside our home!

Letting go of our disbelief, we watched as Joan kept letting go of the bird and capturing it again. My husband Michael grabbed the bird with some cooking tongs, holding it gently and not letting go (despite Joan’s insistence that he do so). Michael decided the best course of action was letting go of the bird outside the front door. Letting go of our worst fears that the bird was dead or grievously injured, we watched the bird fly away, seemingly okay, after Michael let it go.

Do you see letting go in any of my other images for today?

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Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “letting go.”

I also find this:

If you have reactions to this “letting go” post, consider letting go of them in the comments section, below.

Thanks to all who help my letting go every day in this blog, including YOU!

Day 3363: 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 3289: How new is it really?

It’s a new year and how new is it really? Is there anything really new under the sun or, for that matter, under the moon?

How new is it, really, when I ask a question like this one?

How new is it really that I would share a great answer to a question I ask?

How new is it really that I go for walks and take these kinds of photos?

How new is it really that Joan would do this when the late Oscar did this too?

How new is it really that Michael would make a delicious tuna noodle casserole for me?

How new is it really — that Yogi Tea saying?

How new is it really that I would ask a last question for the day on Twitter or share today’s National Days? How new is it really that I’m thinking of buying cream puffs when we go food shopping later?

This new-to-me (but perhaps not new to you) video comes up when I search YouTube for “how new is it really?” …

..: and so does this one.

Here is the “Everything Old is New Again” scene from All That Jazz:

And, finally, how new is it really for my blog posts to end with gratitude to friends new and old, including YOU?

Day 3180: What does AF stand for?

Ann Fully understands what AF stands for on Twitter. As Funny as it may seem, AF is an Acronym Functioning as an Adverb, Friends.

Ann Finds that examples Are Fine:

I am happy As F—- to share All Fotos with you.

The Daily Bitch is bitchy AF. I’m Astonished Frankly AF to be popular AF on Twitter. Joan is resourceful AF About Finagling with Any Friggin’ cone we Attempt For her healing and I will be relieved AF when our Adorable Feline is Again Feeling better and All Fiendish cones are A Faded memory.

When I search YouTube for “AF” I Actually Find “single af” by the admirable Fousheé.

Here’s A Fitting tribute to Norm Macdonald, who was Amazingly Funny AF.

Here’s the Actual Farfetched And Funny AF moth joke:

Here’s Another Funny AF 2020 routine About Fresh And Frightening issues:

Any Found comments will be Appreciated Fully And Faithfully Answered, Following Another Fulfilling AF work day.

And Finally, I’m grateful AF for All Friends, 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 2776: Silently Correcting

I am not going to be silent about the correct inspiration behind today’s blog post title.

I have to admit that I have been like that Daily Bitch, silently correcting some people’s

• grammar,
• words, and
• actions.

However, as I discussed in a recent post — Day 2791: Reasons you should speak up  — the time for silence is past!  Therefore, this morning, I got up the courage to stop silently correcting certain procedures at work, and I sent an email naming the problem and suggesting ways to move forward.  People may silently or not-so-silently correct my email, but why should I care about that?

Do you see any silent correcting in today’s other photos?

That last photo reminds me of Harley not-so-silently correcting me when I made this video in March about social distancing, starring Harley and our late kitty Oscar:

I’m wondering now if anybody is silently correcting my camera angles for that video.

In my Coping and Healing groups, we talk about the toll it takes when we excessively silently correct ourselves for our thoughts and feelings.  Yesterday, several of us resolved to silent our harsh internal critics, as best we can.  When you are silently and painfully correcting yourself, try this  positive self-talk, as suggested by Alyssa Mairanz, LMHC:

• turn “I am such a screw-up” into “I am doing my best, and that is enough.”
• turn “I am so messed up. What’s wrong with me?” into “I am human and no one is perfect.”
• turn “I don’t deserve happiness” into “I deserve to be treated with respect.”
• turn “I can never get anything right” into “I am not defined by my mistakes.”

Please don’t worry about anybody silently correcting your grammar (or anything else) when you leave a comment, below.

I am correctly non-silent about my gratitude to all, including YOU.

Day 2721: Here and now, with all of it.

Here and now, I’m pointing out that the subtitle of this blog, The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally, is “Here and now, with all of it.”

I’m doing two online Zoom meetings for my group psychotherapy organization this morning, and I’m going to do my best to be in the here and now, with all of it.

Why is it so difficult for us to be in the here and now, with all of it?

I could guess, but I’d rather be in the here and now, with all of these photos.

This music, which I shared in a recent post, has been helping me stay in the here and now, with all of it.

Here and now, all of your reactions are welcome.

Here and now, with all of my gratitude to YOU, until next time.

Day 2404: Angels

Yesterday, I noticed angels — first in my therapy group and then at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.  Do you see the angels in these photos?

Michael is an angel to serve us the best tuna noodle casserole ever and my son Aaron is an angel to help me create the  poster for my Edinburgh Fringe show.

Also, my angel of a nurse, Melanie Marshall (who appears in this post with several other angels) …

… has left Tufts Medical Center, which I found out yesterday at my device check appointment. In case my reading angels want to know whether there was any other disappointment at that appointment, I also found out that my implantable cardiac device has about four more years of life.

Here are some quotes about angels:

You don’t have to be an angel, just be someone who can give.  — Patti LaBelle
In heaven an angel is nobody in particular.  — George Bernard Shaw

Monsters will always exist. There’s one inside each of us. But an angel lives there, too. There is no more important agenda than figuring out how to slay one and nurture the other.  — Jacqueline Novogratz

I do not want to be the angel of any home: I want for myself what I want for other women, absolute equality. After that is secured, then men and women can take turns being angels.  — Agnes Macphail

A good teacher who can take the zero pay and help kids develop physically, emotionally, socially, is literally an angel.  — Eva Amurri

Books are like a mirror. If an ass looks in, you can’t expect an angel to look out.           —   B. C. Forbes
I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.  — Michelangelo

Misfortune is never mournful to the soul that accepts it; for such do always see that every cloud is an angel’s face.  — Lydia M. Child
When we are touched by something it’s as if we’re being brushed by an angel’s wings.  — Rita Dove

I also noticed this yesterday, regarding  a singer-songwriter with an angelic voice:

I am grateful for all the angels in my life, including YOU!

Day 2193: For now

For now, there’s only one other post I’ve written with the same title as today’s post. (For now, I believe that 2017 post has some useful information in it. For now, you can click on that link to read it.)

For now, today’s post is the only one which also has a photo of “For now.”

For now, I’m not sure what a “retail incubator” is, but I can show you my other New Year’s Day photos of the Seaport District  of Boston (and, for now, this is the best article I’ve found online about “the hottest neighborhood in town“).

 

For now, I have more must-dos for today’s blog.   For now,

• somebody I’ve known for years is not speaking to me,
• I’m President of a local professional organization of group psychotherapists,
• with great power comes great responsibility (I saw the new Spider-Man movie at the Seaport District theater yesterday),
• I haven’t experienced the full glory of the new Spider-Man movie yet, because a fire alarm screwed up the theater’s computer system and the house lights stayed on for most of the film,
• I’m  writing a new original song every month,
• I haven’t made any high quality recordings of any of my songs,
• I’m still waiting to hear back from the Edinburgh Free Fringe about my show proposal, even though their last email to me three weeks ago said somebody would get back to me “in a few days” and I’ve written them again asking for a response,
• I’m feeing better about not hearing back now that I’ve read that Edinburgh Free Fringe link, above, and seen that  “our main programming decisions [will be] taking place from the end of January and through February and March”,
• my son is in Boston on Christmas vacation from University,
• I haven’t started packing for our Disney World trip this weekend,
• I feel tired when I walk up stairs, and
• I have more pictures to share from yesterday.

For now, there is still plenty left of the best tuna noodle casserole I’ve ever had in my life. For now, I can assume that Michael meets the two criteria I had established for a future boyfriend when I was 10 years old: That my boyfriend love cats and tuna noodle casserole. For now, I’m actually not sure that Michael loves tuna noodle casserole, but he certainly helps me to keep my tuna casserole love alive.

For now, this the best “For Now” song I can find, from the musical Avenue Q.

For now,

and see you tomorrow.  And for all those who helped me create today’s blog post and for all those who are reading this, thanks for now and beyond!