Day 1691: Matters of life and death

Yesterday, people in my therapy groups talked about life and death matters, because that mattered to them.  They asked each other life-and-death questions, including the following:

If you were immortal, how would that change how you live your life?

If you had control over how you would die, what would you choose?

They found those life-and-death questions — and questions  about other matters (like the sources of fear) —  in the book “If … Questions for the Soul.”

When I answered the second question in last night’s therapy group, I referenced a memorable scene from the TV show St. Elsewhere, where an old man, dying alone in the hospital, asks to be held by an orderly in the middle of the night.  When the orderly lifted the man off the bed and held him in his arms as he passed, that mattered so much to me.

How might you answer those life-and-death questions? I hope you know your answers matter.

I wonder if there are any life-and-death matters in my photos from yesterday. Let’s see ….

 

Was losing and finding my wallet this week a matter of life and death?  My next step is quoting Shakespeare:

He who steals my purse steals trash. ‘Tis something, nothing: ‘Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands. A good reputation is the most valuable thing we have—men and women alike.

I took one other photo yesterday.

Is being calmer a matter of life and death?

Does this YouTube video about a St. Elsewhere cast reunion include matters of life and death?

I have some important matters to deal with today, including getting an INR blood test before I leave for Scotland tomorrow. But what matters most to me, here and now, is thanking all those who helped me create today’s post and — of course! — YOU.

 

Day 1632: This place matters

This place matters, because we’re here, now.

Your place matters, no matter where you are.

This place in downtown Boston matters:

The place where I’m writing this blog matters, even though we’re leaving it this summer. Yesterday, I took care of legal matters in selling this place.

The law matters, every place.

My office —  where people learn to recognize and reduce  cognitive distortions — matters.

I placed that sign back up on my office wall yesterday, because those cognitive distortions matter. Does it matter that I’ve placed parentheses around the feelings caused by those all-too-common human and automatic thoughts?

Do these photos of other places matter?

The meals that Michael places on our plates matter, because they are SO delicious.

Searching “this place” on YouTube matters.

When I was in a difficult place as a kid, seeing David McCallum on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. mattered a lot to me.

Your comments make this place matter much, much more.

Gratitude matters!  That’s why I place it at the end of every post.  Many thanks to all who help me place my daily blog on WordPress and — of course! — to you, for placing yourself here.

Day 1055: It doesn’t matter

When I woke up this morning, I thought of a new t-shirt I’d like to create, which says

It doesn’t matter what this says.

Do you think a t-shirt like that might matter?

Does it matter that I might include this on the back?

What matters is that you read it.

It doesn’t matter that yesterday’s post had particularly low readership.  What matters is who read it.

Does it matter that all this reminds me of my therapy groups, when I tell people that it doesn’t matter what we talk about, as long as it matters to them?

It doesn’t matter that I took all these photos yesterday.

It doesn’t matter how WordPress orders those photos (and WordPress is ordering them randomly).

It doesn’t matter what music I include here.

Because I visited a podiatrist yesterday, I chose “Stepping Out” by Joe Jackson. But what I choose doesn’t matter.

If so many things don’t matter, what does matter?

You. (Thanks for reading!)

 

Day 823: _____ matters

How would you fill in that blank in the title of today’s post?

To me ….

… because it lifts my heart, no matter what.

Here are some other matters that mattered enough to me, yesterday, that I spied them with my little eye and snapped them with my little iPhone:

    

Before I started this blog back in 2013, I had no idea that what I see, matters.

One more matter, from my iPhone:

What is the matter with me, that I would take a photo of  a wastepaper basket in my office? How could THAT possibly matter to you or to anybody else ?

Matter of fact, that is  no ordinary wastepaper basket.  Rather, it’s one of the magic wastepaper baskets that matter-ialize whenever I do one of my therapy groups. At the end of each therapy group, I invite people who matter (and who often feel like they do NOT matter) to use the magic waste paper basket, like so:

If you throw something away in the magic wastepaper basket, it might disappear! And even if it DOES come back, it comes back smaller and less powerful.

I guess that matters to some people, because they throw away things like

• worry,
• fear,
• self-criticism,
• shame,
• grudges, and
• Kleenex.

What disposable matters might you throw away in that magic waste paper basket, right now?

It’s a matter of taste what music matters to each of us. Here’s “The Heart of the Matter,” by Don Henley:

The heart of the matter for me, here and now, is this: My heart seems to matter more than usual, these days, to me and to other people, too.

Does it matter to anybody that I wish my heart didn’t matter quite so much to so many heart doctors?

I matter-of-factly need to end this post earlier today than I usually do on a Friday. Why? Because there’s an 8 AM presentation at the hospital where I work, which might include some matters about my therapy groups. No matter what, the presentation is about improving patient care, which really, really matters.

One more thought that matters to me, in this mattering moment:

A doctor who matters a great deal to me told me, two days ago, that I’ll probably never feel as good and healthy as I used to. Even if that’s true,  even if I have a cardiac condition  that increasingly slows me down…..

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I STILL MATTER, as much as ever.

What matters most to you, in today’s post?

It matters to me to thank everybody who mattered in my creating this post today and it matters to me —  especially! — to thank you, who matters a great a deal.