Joe Biden has been declared the next President of the United States. Again.
Wait for it.
I sang “The Impossible Wait” at a remote Open Mic last night.
Wait for it.
I had to wait until everybody else had performed first.
Wait for it.
My ex-husband wrote me this: “That was worth waiting for. I hope it was recorded. If it gets posted online it could make you a star.”
Wait for it.
Wait for the photos I took yesterday.
Wait for it.
It takes steadiness, character, and commitment to wait for it.
For those who are waiting for my 3000th blog post, I’ll be publishing that on a very special day.
Wait for it.
Unless I’ve miscounted,* that special day is the long-awaited inauguration of Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as Vice President of the United States.
Wait for that day, along with millions of others. Good things come to those who wait.
If you have any thoughts and feelings about this wait-for-it post, don’t wait to express yourself in a comment, below.
Wait for my gratitude to all who have helped me create this daily blog since January 1, 2013, including YOU.
* I TOTALLY miscounted. Next time, I’ll wait to check my math before I publish a post. Those will both be special days, but not the same one. I’ve been waiting to be more forgiving of myself when I make mistakes, and that special day is here!
If you have panic attacks, you are not alone, as you can see by today’s Daily Bitch Calendar.
When people have panic attacks, they often share them with me, because I’m a group and individual therapist. When my husband Michael and I have panic attacks, we share them with each other. Luckily, Michael and I often have panic attacks on alternating days — when he’s panicking I’m usually feeling calm and hopeful and when I’m panicking he’s usually feeling hopeful and calm.
To reduce panic attacks, I breathe, blog, take long walks (masked!) , listen to music, read books, watch funny movies and videos, spend time with calming creatures, search for meaning (on the internet and elsewhere), eat delicious nutritious food, dwell on hope, and take photos.
I’m happy to report that for now, thanks to the kindness of strangers, family, and friends, I’ve stopped having panic attacks about
That reminds me … To reduce panic attacks over the upcoming dark and scary months, I’ll be working on something called Therapy: The Musical. Stay tuned.
Reducing panic attacks includes sharing thoughts and feelings, so I hope you share in a comment below.
Also, gratitude attacks beat out panic attacks, so thanks to all who help me attack a new blog post every day, including YOU.
Yesterday, in my Coping and Healing group, people told stories about eyes.
With my own eyes, I noticed people’s strong reactions to the stories about eyes, because eyes are
sensitive,
vulnerable, and
the windows to the soul.
At the end of the group, somebody made a commitment to turn their sensitive and vulnerable eyes away from the news for the rest of the day. The group members showed their approval and support with their eyes.
What do your eyes see in today’s photos?
Because my eyes have been hurting lately, I think I’ll watch this video over and over again instead of tonight’s U.S. President debate:
I’m so glad those people were using their eyes. Another good sight for my sore eyes would be comments from you.
I am thankful for my eyes and the observant eyes of kind people, like YOU.
Yesterday, after a restorative Nia (Non-Impact Aerobics) class on ZOOM, the wonderful instructor Suzanne Cohen told us to spend the day using our eyes to look into the distance, because we spend so much time with our eyes focused on screens (like now!).
When I look into the distance, I see
hope,
change,
joy,
sadness,
all the feelings,
celebrations,
disappointments,
hard work,
restorations,
reparations,
losses,
gains,
beauty, and
so much more.
What do you see when you look into the distance with me?
Sometimes, when we look into the distance, we see ourselves. If we widen our perspective, we might see …
There’s an overwhelming amount of problems these days, so I understand the wish to be running from them.
The problem is that there is no place to run from problems. No matter where you go, there you — and the problems — are.
If you do run, make sure you wear a mask. Otherwise, you’ll be making problems for everyone.
Let’s see if there’s any running from problems in my latest photos.
Before you run, here is “What if we stopped running away from problems” — a Ted talk by Bekhruz Abdurakhmonov, a young world-class fencer from Uzbekistan, about his experience with adolescent depression.
Consider running to the comments section below for a running commentary about this “Running from Problems” post.
Running toward gratitude is never a problem for me, so thanks to Bekhruz Abdurakhmonov, the Daily Bitch Calendar, Michael for the delicious Mexican lasagna, Harley for not running away, solution-oriented groups, and everyone else who helps me face my problems by writing this blog, including YOU!
If I were to categorize my associations with categories, they would include
a kid’s game I used to play with my friends in which we sang “categories, names of, (some category)” while clapping our hands and naming things in the category back and forth until somebody couldn’t think of one, which I cannot find categorized on YouTube (which I categorize as disappointing) and
category[ kat-i-gawr-ee, -gohr-ee ]
noun, plural cat·e·go·ries.
any general or comprehensive division; a class.
a classificatory division in any field of knowledge, as a phylum or any of its subdivisions in biology.
Metaphysics.
(in Aristotelian philosophy) any of the fundamental modes of existence, such as substance, quality, and quantity, as determined by analysis of the different possible kinds of predication.
(in Kantian philosophy) any of the fundamental principles of the understanding, as the principle of causation.
any classification of terms that is ultimate and not susceptible to further analysis.
categories. Also called Guggenheim. (used with a singular verb) a game in which a key word and a list of categories, as dogs, automobiles, or rivers, are selected, and in which each player writes down a word in each category that begins with each of the letters of the key word, the player writing down the most words within a time limit being declared the winner.
Mathematics. a type of mathematical object, as a set, group, or metric space, together with a set of mappings from such an object to other objects of the same type.
Grammar. part of speech.
During these days, which I would categorize as staycation days for me, my son Aaron is trying to teach me about categories in mathematics (see above and see here).
Leon, who I would put in the categories of ex-husband, father of my son, friends, and people I love, showed up recently in this diagram of categories my son drew …
… and also showed up yesterday …
… with a framed photo of mine he put into the category of photos worthy of framing when he saw it in a recent blog post.
I would put Leon’s actions — printing out my picture, framing it, and giving it to us — into the categories of kind, creative, thoughtful, unexpected, and also very, very flattering.
Jeanette, who I would also put into the categories of friends and people I love sent me this beautiful card …
… which I would put into the category of condolence card for the loss of our cat Oscar, and so much more. The PictureThis app (categorized as “Botanist in Your Pocket”) couldn’t place it into the category of flowers or plants.
I’m looking forward to any comments of different categories, below.
Whatever categories I might put my blog into (which today includes “personal growth,” “photojournalism,” “friendship,” “definition,” and “life during the pandemic”), I should always include the category “gratitude.” Thanks to all who help me create these categorized posts every day, including YOU!
It’s jaw dropping to me that I forgot about the invitation (which I included in yesterday’s post) to stream Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday celebration last night, with its jaw-dropping lineup of stars:
I have found many things jaw-dropping lately, including
American leadership’s responses to the pandemic crisis,
racism, sexism, ageism, and homophobia,
how difficult it is for people to get what they need,
how little there is to celebrate these days, and
people’s ability to celebrate, anyway.
Do you see anything jaw-dropping in my photos from yesterday?
It’s jaw dropping
that there was no spinach, parsley, or flour at the supermarket yesterday,
the delicious meal Michael made anyway,
how hard nurses work for us every day of the year,
the level of suffering out there, and
how lucky I am, here and now.
Here‘s the jaw-dropping celebration of Stephen Sondheim from last night:
I look forward to your jaw-dropping comments with (of course!) jaw-dropping gratitude.
It’s challenging to find outlets for our feelings, thoughts, needs, wants, and wishes when the coronavirus is out there, not letting us live our normal and familiar lives.
My outlets also include music and dancing, and Michael and I recently danced to this old R.E.M. tune:
(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville
R.E.M.
Looking at your watch a third time
Waiting in the station for the bus
Going to a place that’s far
So far away and if that’s not enough
Going where nobody says hello
They don’t talk to anybody they don’t know
You’ll wind up in some factory
That’s full time filth and nowhere left to go
Walk home to an empty house
Sit around all by yourself
I know it might sound strange but I believe
You’ll be coming back before too long
Don’t go back to Rockville
Don’t go back to Rockville
Don’t go back to Rockville
And waste another year
At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend
I don’t care if you’re not here with me
‘Cause it’s so much easier to handle
All my problems if I’m too far out to sea
But something better happen soon
Or it’s gonna be too late to bring you back
When people have an outlet to express themselves (like my Coping and Healing Groups), they’re saying it feels too late to bring ourselves back to where we were before the pandemic and that we might all be wasting another year waiting for this to be over.
How can any year be wasted if we meet each moment fully and as a friend?
