People have been talking about the inner child in my Coping and Healing groups, so I just googled “The Inner Child.”
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One of my patients gave me a great compliment this week when they said, “Ann is a good friend to my inner child.”
I’ve done my own inner child work in therapy over the years, including EMDR. My inner child is scared about appearing on a podcast this Friday; my adult self knows we will be okay.
Do you see the inner child in my images for today?
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Here’s what I find when I search for “the inner child” on YouTube:
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Thanks to all those who have an inner child, including YOU!
In my Coping and Healing group yesterday, one of the members said they found my Triggers song very helpful, so I had no problem singing it to the group.
If you have a problem understanding the lyrics “certain movements of eyes” in that song, it refers to EMDR therapy. Because I’ve been having so many problems with technology and I want no problems with my appearance on the Therapist Uncensored podcast this Friday, I have scheduled some EMDR sessions with my therapist.
In my work, I don’t like focusing on problems; I focus on solutions. Therefore, “What’s the problem?” is a question I rarely ask. Nevertheless, what’s the problem with my images for today?
I don’t have a problem with the results of an online personality test matching me with these fictional characters.
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What’s the problem with you leaving a comment, below?
Thanks to all who are here for this what’s-the-problem post, including YOU!
This weekend was very eventful, as I completed setting up my Eventbrite event for my upcoming event — a concert/live album taping of original songs. (The eventful link for the event is here.).
As usual, my mind is full of events and possibilities (including worst case scenarios), so I have been working on how to approach this upcoming eventful event remaining present, hopeful, and prepared.
In a recent eventful EMDR therapy session, I came up with the idea of listening to myself with “loving ears.” The reason this is eventful is that I have very discriminating ears and can always hear what sounds wrong, off-key, etc. While I don’t want to lose that ability to hear something that’s imperfect and make it better, I want to be loving towards myself (instead of harshly judgmental) as I fine-tune what I sound like singing and playing the ukulele, the piano, and the drums. That would be very eventful and helpful change.
Is there anything eventful in my images for today?
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The Daily Bitch is suggesting how to make our lives more eventful.
Here’s what I find when I look for “eventful” on YouTube:
During the cold days of winter, I’m looking for warmth.
I don’t find any warmth in the news or in forecasts about the future. However, I do find warmth in watching episodes of The Yorkshire Vet and in caring connections with others.
Do you see warmth in any of my images for today?
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I’m looking forward to warmth from my EMDR therapist at 3 PM and a concert with Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard at 7:30, despite the forecasted frigid temperatures.
Here’s what I find when I search for “warmth” on YouTube.
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After that finished playing, YouTube chose to share the warmth of Tara Brach with me in this video:
Warm thanks to all who help me create warmth in this daily blog, including YOU!
As the weather here turns cool and we approach the midterm elections, I am trying to keep my cool, which was difficult yesterday when Joan the cat suddenly disappeared when I momentarily got distracted when we were outside together and I was inspecting the cool construction work on our home. I lost my cool as I searched for Joan, catastrophizing that I would never see that cool cat again. After many uncool minutes when Joan was uncharacteristically silent while I was calling her, she suddenly popped up, cool as a cucumber (although cats actually are not cool with cucumbers, as you can see here).
Also, my cool yellow Honda Fit with manual transmission has a brand new alternator which travelled all the way from Arkansas to Massachusetts, so now I’m cool about it starting up in the cool mornings. I find it cool and fun to drive a car with a stick shift and I think it’s uncool that they’re phasing out those kinds of cars.
At the end of the day, I did some cool EMDR therapy to help me stay cool while others are losing their cool around me, and my therapist and I came up with a cool positive cognition: “I can trust myself.”
In an EMDR therapy session last week when I was processing some recent medical scares, I came up with a helpful and healing phrase.
I’m worth waiting for.
I’ve been waiting my whole life to feel worthy enough to believe that.
I hope the full explanation of today’s title is worth waiting for — I’ll reveal it after I share today’s images (which include other things worth waiting for).
Some of today’s National Days were worth waiting for, although I don’t know why that list doesn’t include “Indigenous People’s Day.”
That magic hat I ordered online was worth waiting for and I’m going to use it a week from today in an IN-PERSON Coping and Healing group, which was also worth waiting for.
That other reason why today’s title is “worth waiting for?” A great construction crew is coming today to work on our upstairs bathroom, which has been worth waiting for.
Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “worth waiting for.”
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I know your comments are worth waiting for and I hope my gratitude is, too!
In my EMDR therapy, we have identified a very powerful “positive cognition.”
I’m big enough to have options.
This helps me because when I’m lost, anxious, frightened, or helpless, I feel small — probably because (1) I was traumatized by hospital stays and major surgeries when I was a kid and (2) I’m only 5’3” tall.
Also, it always helps to know I have options.
Here and now, I’m big enough to have options about what I share in today’s blog.
I’m big enough to have options to shower with a friend, have ice cream or Nutella whenever I want, play outside or inside, pay attention to or ignore weatherpeople, and avoid bacon because (1) my parents kept Kosher and (2) I associate the smell of bacon with my childhood stays in the hospital.
Let’s see what options I find when I search YouTube for “I’m big enough to have options.”
I’m big enough to have options about how to express gratitude to all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.
Whenever people show up to my therapy groups, I say out loud, “I’m so glad to see you!”
This morning, when I looked at my bleary-eyed, almost-68-year-old self in the mirror, I said out loud, “I’m so glad to see you!”
I’m so glad to tell you how much that immediately improved my mood. I’m so glad to recommend you try that the next time you see yourself in the mirror.
I’m so glad to share with you these images that I was so glad to see yesterday.
I’m so glad to see the Daily Bitch and I’m so glad that I don’t see anything alarming under the bed these days.
It’s for you that I write these blog posts. But it’s also for me. As I encounter so many ups and downs in life, blogging every morning strengthens me for the day ahead.
It’s for you that I’m trying out a new, unfamiliar-to-me editor as I blog today. But it’s also for me (to increase my confidence about using new technology as I prepare to host my 50th high school reunion on Zoom).
It’s for you that I captured all these images, but it’s also for me.
It’s for you and for me that I realize that “It’s for you” would make a good caption for this:
It’s for you that I have a comments section but it’s also for me.
It’s for you and for me that I collect images of gratitude to end these posts.
I’m grateful that writing this post with the new editor was much easier than I expected! This reminds me of the helpful cognition I’m working on in EMDR therapy:
I can trust myself, which allows me to figure out who else to trust.
Thanks to Pat, Lyle, Harley, Michael (for the burritos), the South Shore of Boston, our neighborhood church, our neighbors, snowy and not-so-snowy egrets, WordPress, and YOU.
