Posts Tagged With: expressing feelings

Day 1410: Let it out

Yesterday, when I was letting it out at cardiac rehab, Danise let it out, like so:

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Danise — who helps people, like me, who are recovering from cardiac surgeries let it out on exercise machines and in other healing ways  — let it out by telling me about a dream she’d had the night before.  After the TV coverage let it out that Donald Trump was on his way to winning the U.S. presidential election, Danise dreamed she found Hillary Clinton in her home flipping things over (as Danise is demonstrating, above). In her dream,  Danise  said to Hillary, “Let it out, girl! ”

After I let it out with Danise and others at cardiac rehab, I went home where I let it out with our two cats. I also let it out by turning on the TV, where I was privileged to witness Hillary Clinton letting it out with her  concession speech.

I have to let it out with you, my dear readers, that when I typed that previous sentence, I erroneously wrote “acceptance” rather than “concession.” As my boyfriend Michael and I have been letting it out with each other after the shock of the election result,  we’ve discussed how the stages of grief include denial.

Speaking of the stages of grief, my son Aaron sent me these messages, yesterday, from Scotland:

very very odd

it feels like someone died

Michael, Aaron, and I then let it out with each other during two extended FaceTime sessions.

On Facebook yesterday, I let it out by posting quotes by H.L. Mencken, including these:

“On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. ”

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”

I also let it out on Facebook by posting this recent, pre-election clip where Patton Oswalt let it out  that grieving in public is therapeutic:

I also believe that letting it out — where “it” includes all your feelings —  is therapeutic.  I will let it out, now, that if I didn’t believe that, I would not have become a psychotherapist nor would I have started this daily blog.

One more way I let it out on Facebook the day after the U.S. election:

I made it through open heart surgery for this?

I think it’s time to let it out by including all my other photos from yesterday:

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If you have  thoughts or feelings about this post, please let it out in a comment, below.

I hope I let it out how grateful I am to all who help me let it out in this daily blog and to you — of course! — for being with me as I let it out, here and now.

 

Categories: blogging, group therapy, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Day 1025: Emotional

What emotions, thoughts, and/or judgments do you have about the word “emotional”?

Is “emotional” …

  • a good thing?
  • a bad thing?
  • a label that’s been applied to you?
  • a label you’ve applied to anybody?
  • a word that applies to only certain beings?

Might anybody get emotional about any of the photos I took yesterday?

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If you got emotional about any of those photos, what emotions did you have?

In group and individual therapy, I find it helps to

  • accept all your emotions, without judgment,
  • identify what emotions you’re having, and
  • express them, in a way that feels safe enough to you.

Any emotional reactions to that?

I’m glad that this emotional video came up first in my search on YouTube:

Here‘s another emotional, “tear-jerking” video I found on YouTube:

Did you get emotional about this post?  I’ll be emotional if you leave a comment .

And it’s all good.

Emotional thanks to all who helped me create this emotional post and to you — of course! — for whatever emotions you bring here, today.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism, Psychotherapy | Tags: , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Day 579: What’s underneath, Part 2

Four score and four days ago,  I wrote a post titled “What’s underneath.”

I remember having some worry while I was writing that post, because:

  • some people had expressed a wish that I write a review of an Eddie Izzard concert I had attended with my son,
  • I wasn’t sure I could do that concert justice with my amateur reviewing skills, and
  • I was recovering from pneumonia.

Today, my health is much better. So that worry isn’t underneath the surface, right now.

However, I AM having some worry, as I begin this blog post, because:

  • some people expressed a wish yesterday that I reveal the place where my cell phone disappeared in my car and was hiding so effectively that it took  smart, competent, and eager people lots of time to find it and
  • I’m not sure I can do a “good enough” job of granting that request.

However, I promised I would show where my cell phone was hiding, if my readers cared enough to request that.  And, a promise is a promise, people!

Now, why am I uncertain about doing a good enough job, today?

Well, I wonder if I can capture, with my amateur photography skills and other limitations, the excitement of that original, in-the-moment “reveal” when I discovered  where that friggin’ phone was, in my car. I am worried that any reenactment will be WAY underneath the actual experience.

Last night, however, I put aside such worries, concerns, and trepidations, and attempted, with the help of my lovely assistant, Michael, to reenact and recapture the end of that hide-and-seek game with my cell phone, in my car. My plan, last night,  was to put my phone back in its excellent hiding place, and take a picture of it, using Michael’s new phone.

The Pros of last night’s plan?  It was dark, which was an accurate reenactment of  the actual event.  Also, the real perpetrator (my phone) would be returning to the scene of the crime.

The Cons of last night’s plan?  It was dark, and the two phones would NOT cooperate, at all.

What to do?  I wondered.

My lovely assistant, Michael, suggested that I go to Plan B, and take a photo this morning, before publishing today’s post.

The Pros of that plan?  It’s light outside now, so I can probably capture something, even if the result is underneath my hopes and standards. Also (as expressed above),  the real perpetrator would be returning to the scene of the crime.

The Cons of that plan?  I’d have to get ready to leave the house, go out to my car by myself, struggle to put that friggin’ phone back in that friggin’ hiding place, twist around to somehow take a photo that’s good enough, and deal with my own laziness and perfectionism about all that.

Hey!  Maybe I can dig up something from Google Images, this morning, that will do the trick, instead!

Hmmm.  I wonder what search phrase might be above any others, to start? I’ll try this Google Images search first:

Mazda3 underneath steering wheel

Aha!

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(I found that image here)

That’s not perfect, but I guess it’s good enough.

What else do I want to include in this post, underneath that Big Reveal, above?

How about a photo  I WAS able to take successfully, last night?

I want to tell you that underneath all I wrote today, was …

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Joy.

 

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That is NOT somebody named Joy. That’s my friend, Jeanette, whom I last saw in April, during a shared adventure in  NYC, right before I came down with pneumonia.  Jeanette is visiting Boston, briefly, from a city that lies underneath, in the USA: Philadelphia.

I’m pretty sure I’m right about that, geographically.  Let’s check:

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(image found, FINALLY, here)

You would not believe all the trouble I had to go through,  just now, to bring you that good-enough map, above.   At one point, I was asked to prove  I was human!

I guess we never know, for sure, what’s going on, underneath, with anybody else.

Thanks to Mazda, phones (hiding or in plain sight), Jeanette, Michael, people who do their best keeping promises, and to you — of course! — for visiting today, no matter where you are on the map.

Categories: friendship, mystery, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: , , , , , | 41 Comments

Day 495: What’s underneath?

The title of today’s post is inspired by this pair of photos, which I took yesterday:

Photo #1:

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Photo #2:

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My next thought about “What’s Underneath?” is this:  That’s a therapeutic technique I’ve witnessed, to encourage people to go deeper and get a better understanding of their thoughts and feelings.  For example, if somebody expresses a feeling or experience, such as:

I am confused

… the question “What’s underneath?” is repeated, like so:

I am confused.

What’s underneath?

Not knowing a lot of things about the future.

What’s underneath?

Fear that things won’t turn out well.

What’s underneath?

Unhappiness about feeling ill.

What’s underneath?

An expectation that I should be feeling better.

What’s underneath?

Hunger.

What’s underneath?

Hey!  What’s with all these questions?  I need to go get breakfast!

Geesh.  Some people just don’t know when to stop questioning.

But, I think that gives you an idea of that technique, which people can find quite useful.

What else do I want to show you, today?

How about some more photos from yesterday?

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Question: What’s underneath those cows?

Answer: An elevator door, in a parking lot where I had left my car, last month, when I was a patient in the hospital. Yesterday, my son and I were waiting for the elevator to take us to see Eddie Izzard.

At this point in the post, you may be thinking

I am confused

… but I think I can clear that up.  The parking lot is attached to the hospital where I receive my medical care AND it’s located in Boston’s theater district.

Here’s another photo:

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Question: What’s underneath that?

Answer: My son, me, and many, many other people, going into the theater to see Eddie Izzard.

At this point in the post, some of you may be asking a different question:

How was Eddie Izzard, Ann?

He was brilliant.

Thanks to cats, questioners, answerers, sons, Tufts Medical Center parking lot, the Citi Center,  Eddie Izzard, and (is there any question?) you, for reading today.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism, quiz | Tags: , , , , , | 45 Comments

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