Now that nefarious people have so much control and power in the USA again, I am declaring this the Age of Nefarious.
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Can you tell that it’s the Age of Nefarious by the other images in this blog?
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As I’m turning 72 in two weeks, I really resent being an old woman trapped inside an old woman’s body during The Age of Nefarious.
Thanks to all who will help each other during The Age of Nefarious, including YOU!
I conduct many mindfulness exercises in my therapy groups where we’re letting go of something that is not serving us well, like anxiety, despair, worry about the future, regrets about the past, harsh self judgment, old patterns of behaviors, unhelpful thoughts including comparisons and personalization, assumptions, and people who are taking up too much space in our heads.
Do you see letting go in any of my images for today?
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According to today’s news, it looks like the USA might be letting go of TikTok.
Here’s the first thing I find when I search for “letting go” on YouTube.
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What are your thoughts and feelings about letting go?
Thanks to all who helped me create this letting-go post, including YOU!
October is the month for scares.
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Yesterday, I got the scares when I noticed an indication of possible infection in my post-operative surgical wound. When I described the symptom on the phone to my medical team, the scares got worse when they told me to come back to the hospital as soon as possible.
I felt many scares during the ride back to the hospital and as I waited to be seen. These scares reminded me of the countless scares I’ve experienced as I’ve lived my life with an unusual heart condition. These scares have probably helped keep me alive, but they’ve also left some scars.
Somehow, when I get the scares, I usually think it’s my fault — that I’ve done something wrong to cause the problem. For example, I kept telling the medical people yesterday that I’d been following all the directions I’d been given for postoperative care. When they questioned me about that (“Did you get the wound wet?”) I got the scares again.
When it turned out that the scary symptom was a false alarm, the scares receded, temporarily. But, because I’m not perfect, I know scares will return.
How do I deal with these scares? Well, I express them (as I’m doing now). And I remember something somebody said in my Coping and Healing group last week:
“Fearless” doesn’t mean that you never fear. I just means that you fear less.
Do you see scares in my images for today?
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On Do Something Nice Day, I’m going to do something nice for me by telling myself “It’s not your fault.” That should help me deal with scares.
Here’s what I find when I search for “scares” on YouTube:
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Thanks to all who help me deal with scares, especially YOU!
Age is a topic that adults of different ages often talk about in my therapy groups.
We have so many preconceptions and judgments about age. For example, women aren’t supposed to share their age. Why not? I’m proud that I’ve reached the age of 71.
I hope we can enter an age where there is no discrimination based on age.
Here are some quotes about age:
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Do you see age in my other images for today?
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Here’s a song I wrote which includes my age:
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Thanks to all those who are here for this age post, including YOU!
I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day yesterday, as I had a bad night’s sleep worrying that I wouldn’t be able to start my car to bring it very early in the morning to the local dealership, found out before I left that I couldn’t connect my computer to the hospital’s Epic system, finally got my car to start, discovered at the dealership that the problem was a known flaw in the starter button that had been covered by a special warrantee until last month, paid a ridiculous amount of money for the repair, got home and realized the car wasn’t actually fixed when it wouldn’t shut off properly, spent an important meeting talking on the phone with Information Systems trying to connect my home computer to Epic, scrambled to talk to all my patients anyway, found out I couldn’t connect because of another friggin’ form I had missed filling out, managed to get through to the car dealership and was told that the mechanic had mistakenly installed the wrong starter button in my car, got horribly triggered by all this because so many machines weren’t working and I depend on a machine (cardiac pacemaker that needs to be replaced next week) to live, brought the car back in, was told the repair would take hours, got home (without my car) just in time to facilitate my two online therapy groups, and then witnessed other people courageously dealing with terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.
In group, people talked about this book …
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and then when I had retrieved my car after 8 PM and had a very non-terrible, non-horrible, very good meal prepared by my husband Michael,
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… I asked this question on Twitter:
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It’s a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for countless people in the southeast United States because of Hurricane Helene. My heart goes out to all of them.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day:
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Thanks to all who help me get through terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, including YOU!
Thursdays are my longest work day, as I facilitate two online therapy groups, one ending at 7 PM.
I love my work and have no plans to retire. Indeed, I have a joke about this. I say that after I die, I’m going to have my body stuffed and put in a room where I’ll lead groups as a silent therapist.
I don’t know if that joke works in a blog but I hope the rest of this post will work/ werk.
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My work on social media includes posting those daily lists.
I love RuPaul’s work and here is Supermodel (You Better Work):
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Thanks to all who are working it, here and now, including YOU!
My hopes and dreams include:
Do you see hopes and dreams in my images for today?
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I’m grateful that my hopes and dreams are not the same as the Daily Bitch’s.
Here’s what I find when I search for “hopes and dreams” on YouTube.
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What are your hopes and dreams?
Thanks to all who are here for this hopes-and-dreams post, including YOU!
Because of my fears about the upcoming USA elections, last night I had trouble sleeping.
Whenever I’m distressed, I do what I can to realize that I am not alone, like reaching out to friends who also have trouble sleeping. Because I have trouble disturbing anybody else’s sleep, I posted on Twitter.
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While other people’s pain hurts, it did help to know that I wasn’t alone. So I finally fell back to sleep.
Earlier in the day of the night I had trouble sleeping, I asked these other questions on Twitter.
I wonder if I’ll have trouble sleeping again tonight? The word of the day doesn’t help.
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Joan never has trouble sleeping.
I want to be more like Joan.
Harley doesn’t have trouble sleeping either, even though he is a very anxious kitty.
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I wonder if the Daily Bitch ever has trouble sleeping.
Now, that’s a ridiculous coincidence because last night I also had trouble sleeping because I realized I had forgotten to take my pills the day before, which aways scares me.
Even though I had trouble sleeping last night, I won’t forget to post today’s World Observances.
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Whenever I have trouble sleeping, I like to listen to a soothing voice, like Pema Chödrön’s.
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What to do you do when you have trouble sleeping?
Thanks to all who are reading this “Trouble Sleeping” post, including YOU.
During the debate last night — which I was afraid of watching — I asked this question: “What are you afraid of?”
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At this point, I’m afraid of losing my sense of hope and my sense of humor.
Well, maybe not. I still think that’s funny and I still have hope for humankind. But I’m afraid how people vote in important elections and how that affects us all.
Today, when I talk to people in group and individual therapy, I’m sure we’ll be discussing what they are afraid of.
On CAPS LOCK Day, I am VERY AFRAID of a former U.S. President who rants on social media with caps lock on.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “What are you afraid of?”
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What are you afraid of?
Thanks to all those I am NOT afraid of, including YOU.
Yesterday, in my therapy group, I invited people to tell a story about a time they felt scared.
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For me, almost every day is a time I felt scared, but I don’t let that stop me.
Yesterday — as I went to physical therapy for my noisily clicking jaw (eeeek!) and to a singing lesson for my upcoming concert (eeeek!) — I drove through several neighborhoods where I’ve lived and gone to school (eeeek!).
Maybe because these are times I’ve felt scared, I didn’t stop to take pictures of those experiences.
Do you see any reminders of a time you felt scared in my images for today?
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Eeeeeeeek!!!!!
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “a time you felt scared.”
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Thanks to all who made it through a time you felt scared, including YOU!
