What does “Play Like an Animal” mean? I wondered about that, yesterday, when I saw this at a local supermarket:
Apparently, playing like an animal involves finding your way.
Tomorrow, when I find my way back to my job after a two-month medical leave, it will be time for me to work like an animal. But what kind of animal will that be? Will it be a tired animal? A healthy animal? This animal will know more, soon.
Do any of my other photos from yesterday play like an animal?
Don’t be shy …. please play like an animal, here and now, by leaving a comment below.
Before I work out like an animal at cardiac rehab, I have time to share this play-like-an-animal music:
Playful thanks to all the animals who helped me create today’s post and to you — of course! — no matter how you’re playing or working today.
Strange days, my friends. But it would be a strange day indeed if I forgot to thank all who helped me create this strange blog post and you — of course! — for helping my world seem less strange.
Yesterday, a kind and compassionate teabag removed the sadness of my world.
Let me be kind and compassionate to remove the sadness of the world, as best I can, with this story:
When I was at cardiac rehab yesterday morning, feeling the sadness of the world, a guy (who had been kind and compassionate to me the week before) teased another guy there, like so: “You lift weights like a girl!” I immediately said, “Is that still an insult?”
Was that kind and compassionate?
When it became obvious to me that my new pacemaker/defibrillator was not being kind and compassionate to my heart while I was exercising, I decided to leave cardiac rehab early. I said to the guy, “I’m leaving, but it’s not because of what you said.” He replied, “Hey! I’m doing my best, you know. I used to be a truck driver. I’m evolving!” I said, “We’re all evolving.”
Was that kind and compassionate?
To me, it felt like it removed some of the sadness of the world.
Soon after that, my kind and compassionate doctor, Mark Estes, removed the sadness of my world by reprogramming my pacemaker/defibrillator and by giving me more hope about my future. We also talked a little about the sadness of the world, which felt kind and compassionate.
Let us be kind and compassionate with my other photos from yesterday:
Do those remove any sadness from your world?
Here‘s the kind and compassionate music removing the sadness of my world, here and now:
Will you be kind and compassionate and remove the sadness of the world with a comment?
Let me be kind and compassionate, thanking all who helped me create this post and you — of course! — for bringing your kindness and compassion to my world, today.
Here are some lines from Hamlet which I found healing last night:
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
Doubt truth to be a liar; but never doubt I love.
This above all; To thine own self be true.
One may smile, and smile, and still be a villain.
Listen to many; speak to a few.
When sorrows come, they come not single spies. But in battalions!
Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!
If we are true to ourselves, we can not be false to anyone.
O God, I could be bound in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space – were it not that I have bad dreams.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice; Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear; Where little fears grow great, great love grows there.
Tis the times’ plague, when madmen lead the blind.
the play’s the thing
Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King.
Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be.
Brevity is the soul of wit.
Since brevity is the soul of wit, I’ll be brief in sharing that I am seeing battalions of doctors and other healing people in hospitals today. I shall reserve my judgment until after I see them all.
Here are the rich gifts of healing images from yesterday:
Some of those photos show Benedict Cumberbatch, before the play began, interacting with young people from many cultures about Hamlet, which I found very healing. The play — which was the thing — began with Hamlet listening to a song I always find healing.
For all who helped me create today’s post and for you — of course! — I have one more healing image from yesterday:
ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW about this blog includes this: I try to share ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW with my photographs from the day before.
ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW about those chocolates:
my two managers from work sent them to me,
they’re incredibly delicious,
I ate too many of them since they arrived yesterday,
Have you noticed that even when we say “enough,” The News doesn’t stop?
Here’s the latest news: After I posted The News in yesterday’s new blog post, I went to cardiac rehab and told them the news that I was feeling worse and more out of breath after getting a new Implantable Cardiac Device last week. (That device was replaced because of the news from the manufacturer that two people have died already from prematurely depleting batteries, which has been in the news.) When I exercised on the treadmill at cardiac rehab yesterday, the news was that my heart was not speeding up correctly, the way it has been between the time of my open heart surgery in September and my getting the new ICD last week.
How did I react to that news? I had a complete meltdown, because the news has just been coming and coming at me for the past few months.
Then, I got into my relatively new car and drove to the hospital to deliver the news to my cardiologists. It’s probably not headline news that I was crying and upset. My worst fear was that I would hear this news: Your new device won’t work as well as the old one and your only hope is to get ANOTHER new device. That would have been too much news for me.
However, the news I got at the hospital was this: In more unexpected news, the pocket that holds my new device is filled with fluid, which means the new device can’t make my heart with its new mechanical heart valve speed up appropriately in response to new exercise. The news included this: after that fluid is absorbed, the new device SHOULD act the way it was supposed to.
While that news was “good,” I don’t think it was news to my medical team that I had some new skepticism about “shoulds.” Also, the new ICD won’t work correctly until the new and painful swelling and fluid go away, so I need to stay out of work for two more weeks. That might not be great news for my patients.
What’s the news, where you are?
More news: I’ll probably be watching the news tonight, because today is the United States Presidential election.
When I posted my news on Facebook last night, I included this:
I am just doing this to distract everybody from the election. You’re welcome.
What’s the photographic news from my not-so-new iPhone?
More news! We bought a new-to-us vegetable on Sunday, which Michael cooked in a new dish last night. It wouldn’t be news to me if one of my readers knew what that vegetable was (even though Michael and I didn’t). I’ll tell you this news: Michael said the vegetable looked like fractals, and the Wikipedia page about that vegetable said the same thing!
What helps you deal with the news? For me, it’s the power of love (also a song by Huey Lewis and The News):
The news would be good for me if you leave a new comment, below.
My final news is that I have new gratitude for all those who helped me create this new post and for you (and I hope that’s not news to you!).
As if other people aren’t asking you enough questions these days, I have another one for you:
Do you ever feel like saying “Enough”?
This morning, when I woke up sore from my third surgical procedure in 45 days, facing one more day before the U.S. Presidential election, adjusting to another time change, looking at more than enough new emails in my inbox, having enough things to take care of today, not having enough energy on stairs, and recently receiving this mailing from the Mayo Clinic …
… I said to myself, “Enough!”
If, at this point, you don’t have enough information about what I’ve been going through lately, you could read some of my recent blog posts. But, honestly, I don’t know if you have enough time to do that.
Now, I know I have enough things to be grateful for in my life, but sometimes I wonder whether we give ourselves enough time to just stop and say, “Enough!”
Have I written enough to make my point?
Because this post isn’t random enough, I want to tell you that I recently told my boyfriend Michael (who is more than enough for me) that if I ran for President of the United States, I thought this would be enough of a platform to get me elected:
Enough with the time/clock changes! We’re going to pick one and stay with it!
Enough with advertising holidays before we’ve gone through the most recent one! For example, no Thanksgiving advertising until after Halloween, and no Christmas advertising until after Thanksgiving!
Do you think that platform would be enough to get me elected? If not, I have more than enough other ideas (including ENOUGH WITH THE UNASKED-FOR UPDATES TO SOFTWARE FOR OUR DEVICES!)
Let’s see whether I have enough new photos on my iPhone (which, by the way, has a cracked screen because it’s taken enough abuse from me):
Do you think there are enough cat photos on the internet? And if I haven’t given you enough information about the photos above, Michael conducted another cooking lesson with my son Aaron (who’s far enough away in Edinburgh) via phone last night, making enough delicious vegetarian chili for us.
There’s enough music on YouTube, including these two songs (here and here):
I certainly spent enough time dancing to that first song in discos, decades ago.
As if this all weren’t enough, WordPress is having trouble saving this post. Will I have enough time to publish it successfully before I have to leave for cardiac rehab?
If you have enough to say about this “Enough!” post, I hope you know enough to comment, below.
And, yes, I do have enough gratitude for all those who helped me create today’s blog post and to you — of course! — for having enough time and energy to visit here, today.
Behind your view there are other views; to see them, you must first visit the view you see!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan
“I think we each come out of the womb with some unique way of looking at the world and if we don’t express it, we loose faith in ourselves.”
― Gloria Steinem, Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem
“View every obstacle as a learning post.”
― Azim Jamal & Brian Tracy
“The proper conceptual view is attained only through introspection.”
― Akshay Vijayan
“Stubborness and staunch, they are both same things
from different point of view”
― Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut
“The forest stretched on seemingly forever with the most monotonous predictability, each tree just like the next – trunk, branches, leaves; trunk, branches, leaves. Of course a tree would have taken a different view of the matter. We all tend to see the way others are alike and how we differ, and it’s probably just as well we do, since that prevents a great deal of confusion. But perhaps we should remind ourselves from time to time that ours is a very partial view, and that the world is full of a great deal more variety than we ever manage to take in.”
― Thomas M. Disch, The Brave Little Toaster
“My father says that there is only one perfect view — the view of the sky straight over our heads, and that all these views on earth are but bungled copies of it.”
― E.M. Forster, A Room with a View
Distance gives a clearer view. You can’t see the facade of a building while staying inside.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Master of Maxims
“Unfortunately in this world of ours, each person views things through a certain medium, which prevents his seeing them in the same light as others…”
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
“We can view life as a meaningless journey ending in death or as an evolving spiral of life.”
― Joseph Rain
After viewing that last quote, you might view the possibility of my now sharing thousands of pictures. Not to worry; here are all the views I captured yesterday:
I wonder how many views this post will get? Maybe I can increase the views by including some great music.
Feel free to express your views in a comment below.
Finally, I view all those who helped me create today’s post with gratitude and love. And, of course, I view all my readers the same way!
What’s my attitude about life? Depends on what’s going on around me, how I’m perceiving things, and people I depend on.
How am I feeling as I recover from my recent open heart surgery? Depends on how much sleep I’m able to get, which depends on how much pain I’m having.
How do I answer questions from myself and from others? Depends on the question, my attitude, my experience, and what I know.
How do I come up with a title and topic for each of my daily blog posts? Depends on what’s happened the day before, usually.
How do I decide which pictures to share here? Depends on which ones I think you might like.
How well do I quote other people in this blog? Depends on my memory and what they have to say. Yesterday, the dependably hilarious, brilliant, and charming Mel Brooks responded to a question from the audience as follows:
My choice of music for each post depends on several factors. Here‘s the theme song from Blazing Saddles — the movie Mel Brooks showed and discussed yesterday:
Will you comment on today’s blog post? That probably depends on what you have to say.
I depend on others to create every blog post and on you to read them, so many thanks to Mel Brooks, to my neighbor Karen for driving me yesterday to a realtor’s open house AND to see Mel Brooks, and to you — of course! — on whom I depend more than you know.
