When I was walking the right way down an Edinburgh street yesterday, I observed this:
What IS the right way, dear readers, in these times of right OR left, us OR them, my way OR the highway?
For me, the right way includes loving yourself and others …
… being responsible for your tasks …
… thoughtful consumption of food and other resources …
… finding the wisdom in books and other people …
… being surprised by joy …
… communicating with others the best you can …
… finding the humor wherever you can …
… singing along, realizing that beauty is everywhere…
… even in your own body and soul, and recognizing that change is scary.
Also, the right way includes looking out for each other, especially when people fear change.
The right way to end this post is with gratitude for all who help me find the right way, every day, to create this blog and for YOU, who found your way here.
As we enter into the unknown of another day and another blog post, I will tell you that the theme of the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe is “Into the Unknown.”
I especially like that cover photo for “Into the Unknown” because many of my known photographs include my feet, like this one:
That reminds me that I went into the unknown yesterday with my son Aaron and his friends to try a highly recommended macaroni and cheese sandwich in Edinburgh, wearing my macaroni and cheese socks. Photos of that sandwich and other Edinburgh meals will remain unknown to my readers because my son extracted a known promise from me that I do NOT take pictures of food when I’m with him and his friends.
Before this visit, my son Aaron’s Edinburgh friends were unknown to me. They are unknown no longer.
That drawing of Aaron’s friend Jago was done by his known and long-time friend Cameron, who is known to my readers.
The known Cameron is on the right and the previously unknown Jago and Michael are on the left. When we went into that unknown grocery store to get spinach, which I’m known to need because of my known heart condition and medication, it was unknown to us that no photos were allowed there. The security guard told us that unknown rule so we would know not to take more photos there.
I hope it’s known to you that I’m known for taking photos everywhere I go as I venture into the unknown.
Those last few previously unknown photos show us going into the unknown of the amazing Neal Portenza’s latest and (I hope!) NOT final Edinburgh show, despite his poster.
I plan to be going into the unknown of more Fringe shows today.
Do you know what helps you find the courage to go into the unknown? For me, it’s known that blogging helps a lot.
Now let’s go into the unknown of today’s blog post ending.
One thing I consistently relearn in this world (especially when I attend a group psychotherapy conference) is why people respond to you the way they do.
Last week in Houston, I found that people responded to me the way they did because of
assumptions,
memories,
feelings, and
the unconscious.
Here are two examples of people responding to me the way they did:
Example #1.
In a very large group, a woman sitting near me responded to everything I said with hostility, aggression, and opposition. After the group session, I approached her and asked her if I had offended her in some way. She said, “Oh no! I’ve never done one of these large groups before. I just thought that was what you were supposed to do — argue with the person who had just spoken.”
Example #2.
In a different, much smaller group, I was the first to speak up. A man sitting across from me seemed to respond to everything I said with some mild hostility. After about an hour, I let him know, in the group, that I was experiencing some hostility from him and I wondered what that was about. At first he said he wasn’t aware of being hostile towards me. When another group member joined me by telling him she also saw the hostility towards me, he thought about it. Then he said, “I guess there is some hostility there. I saw you yesterday in another group where you spoke up first. When you spoke up first here, I thought, ‘Oh, there’s Ann, doing THAT again.’ I said, “Oh! Now I understand. Thank you!”
I respond to the world the way I do, sometimes through pictures.
This is my boy, Aaron, expressing appreciation for his family:
Aaron’s mother took many pictures of her boy last night as he appeared in a Shakespeare play about a boy and his family, Henry IV, Part 1:
Many members of my boy’s family were there to see my boy perform as the boy prince, Hal.
One member of my boy’s family expressed pride and well wishes for her boy, in the play’s program:
Earlier in the day, somebody at work sent me this, about a boy and his family:
I assume some purr boys and girls with families might now want to sing this song:
Certain boy’s family members like to take photos. Here’s the rest of my family of photos from yesterday:
Since my boy was a little boy, he has spent a lot of time with his talented “roguish, onion-eyed” friend Cameron, who has a lovely family. Cameron has appeared with Aaron in previous posts, including Day 833: Be Kind and Day 1093: What are you eating/What’s eating you. Here’s Cameron, heavily padded as Falstaff, from last night:
Aaron’s blogging family member now wishes to express her gratitude for all those who helped her create this “Boys and Their Families” post and to all the boys and girls reading this, here and now.
Okay, folks, we’ve got a great blog post for you all here today. I can already tell that you’re gonna love it.
I’d like to be kind, right now, and explain how that last paragraph kind of quotes the introduction my 17-year-old son Aaron speaks in the one-act play “Serious Economics.”
If you know nothing of “Serious Economics” — which Aaron wrote and directed and kind of starred in with his kind and good friend Cameron — please be kind enough to read my blog posts from two and three days ago.
Now I shall be kind enough to show you the other kinds of photos I took, yesterday, from the office of social worker Erin, who seems to be kind to everyone:
Erin and I both know that being kind to others is very important, but being kind to yourself is just as important. Therefore, I shall now be kind to myself and do what makes my heart sing:
I shall kind of conclude today’s kind post with one more “be kind” story.
Two days ago, Aaron sent the video of “Serious Economics” to N. Gregory Mankiw, the real Harvard economist featured in his play. Was N. Gregory Mankiw being kind when he quickly emailed Aaron back the following?
Thanks. But how did you know I keep a large nuclear warhead under my dining room table?
If you have thoughts about that or anything else I kind of presented in this post, please be kind enough to leave a comment below.
Kind thanks to all the kind folks who made this kind of post possible, including Erin, Aaron, Cameron, Luke (who was kind enough to put “Serious Economics” on his smart phone Saturday night), and N. Gregory Mankiw. And kind thanks to you — of course! — for being kind enough to visit, today.
