Posts Tagged With: Home Depot

Day 4156: Unconditional welcome

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Ann Koplow

At some point in every therapy group, I express unconditional welcome by saying, “Thanks for showing up exactly the way you did today.”

Karen Faith, in her TED talk, describes the importance of unconditional welcome for others and for the different parts of oneself.

Do you see unconditional welcome in my images for today?

My husband Michael is going to give an unconditional welcome to Plant Something Day by planting Calla Lillies. I’m going to practice giving unconditional welcome to audiences (and the different parts of me) for my upcoming shows at the Lilypad in Cambridge.

What are your thoughts and feelings about unconditional welcome?

Thanks for showing up exactly the way you did today!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: accepting all parts, calla lilies, cats, Home Depot, How to talk to the worst parts of yourself, Karen Faith, May 19 2024, Plant Something Day, talents, The Lilypad, Twitter | 15 Comments

Day 4150: Eventful

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Ann Koplow

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?

The Daily Bitch is suggesting how to make our lives more eventful.

Here’s what I find when I look for “eventful” on YouTube:

I also find this:

Thanks to all who make my life more eventful, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: “An Eventful Morning — Short Film”, EMDR, Eventbrite, Eventful Globe Channel, events, helpful reframes, Home Depot, Jake Ray Winger, May 12 2024, Stop & Shop, The Daily Bitch Calendar | 8 Comments

Day 3960: What to do with that extra hour

Posted on November 5, 2023 by Ann Koplow

Well, we gained an extra hour last night and while I usually lament this fall time change, this year I’m doing something new! I’m going to reframe my attitude by creating a list of all the things I might do with that extra hour.

Sleep
Spend more time on my daily blog.
Reread a beloved book.
Read one of the many books I’ve ordered because of people’s recommendations.
Catch up on late night talk show TV.
Watch more episodes of The Yorkshire Vet.
Write a new song.
Practice playing the ukulele.
Plan for a spring concert of my original tunes.
Start posting excerpts of my songs on TikTok as “The Singing Therapist.”
Give my swollen ankle a rest.
Ignore my swollen ankle and go for a walk.
Take our cat Joan out on her leash and let her walk me.
Listen to music.
Try to remember how to reset all the clocks that need resetting.
Try really hard to think of any good reason why we still do this yearly time change.
Arrange my images of the day in a more coherent order.

I could also research all the days on those two lists of November 5 holidays in 2023, but instead I’ll search for “what to do with that extra hour” on YouTube.

Okay, I think I’m well on my way of spending that extra hour.

Thanks to all who’ve chosen to spend their precious time reading this what-to-do-with-that-extra-hour blog post, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: cats, changing the clocks, Christmas decorations, Daily Savings Time, gratitude, Home Depot, how to spend your time, Neil deGrasse Tyson, November 5 2023, PBS News Hour, the Greater Boston area | 16 Comments

Day 3903: 9/9

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Ann Koplow

9/9 is my late father’s birthday. Here are my top 9 adjectives for him:

Funny
Generous
Musical
Religious
Quick
Outgoing
Honest
Talented
Warm

People have told me I’m like my father, (even though I’m not religious on this 9/9). Earlier today, I thought of my dad when I watched the TED Talk “What if music could find someone you’ve lost?” by Steven Sharp Nelson.

Here’s a photo of me with my dad, which I I’ve shared on previous 9/9’s.

My dad really liked our cat Tuffy and I think he would have loved my other creatures with 9/9 lives.

I don’t know what my dad would have thought of my latest song; maybe he would have given it at 9.

I wonder what my father would have thought and felt about the other images I have to share on this 9/9?!

I like how 9/9 is also Wonderful Weirdoes Day.

9/9 thanks to my dad and all the wonderful weirdoes who are sharing this day with me, including YOU!

Categories: in memoriam, original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: “What if music could find someone you’ve lost?”, cats, Halloween decorations, Home Depot, punctuation marks, September 9 2023, Steven Sharp Nelson, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 12 Comments

Day 3877: Trending Now

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Ann Koplow

What’s trending now, here, includes dealing with the peeling paint on our metal ceiling and preparing for my son Aaron starting a mathematics PhD program in Halifax, Nova Scotia. While people were helping me with both of those issues, I saw this:

What’s trending now also includes Climate Change, so I’m writing a song about that.

Do you see what’s trending now in my other images for today?

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “trending now.”

Gratitude is trending now and always here, so thanks to all who help me figure out what’s trending now, including YOU.

Categories: original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: 10 Trending Tik Tok products, August 14 2023, cats, climate change, gratitude, Home Depot, Richard Feynman, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter/X, Veggie Burger | 16 Comments

Day 3584: Body Armor

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, when I saw this in the supermarket …

… I thought about a recent therapy session when I had suggested that someone — who was dealing with many slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in their lives — visualize and design some imaginary body armor to protect themselves. This person loved that assignment and looked forward to sketching some cool body armor they could then imagine putting on when they were feeling vulnerable.

This morning, as I get ready to go out into the world, I feel like I could use some body armor, too. My body armor would be colorful, strong, comfortable, and allow myself to move and react nimbly. My body armor would repel bad news, aggression, and toxicity from the outside and let my own self-defeating thoughts escape easily.

Do you see any examples of body armor in today’s images?

Do you think imagining and wearing body armor might help you live your best life during these scary times?

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “body armor.”

When I spent hours looking at tiles for our shower remodel yesterday, little did I know that I was looking at body armor.

Thanks to all who — like imaginary body armor — help me feel safer, including YOU.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism, therapy | Tags: $6 DIY Body Armor, Floor & Decor, Home Depot, imaginary body armor, intuition, National Days October 24 2022, scary times, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter, vulnerability | 15 Comments

Day 3078: It’s No Lie

Posted on June 5, 2021 by Ann Koplow

It’s no lie that I am

going to meet up with blogger Mark Bialczak, his dear wife Karen, and his sweet dog Ellie B. on Cape Cod today,
looking forward to the weekend,
keeping this blog going for the 3078th day in a row,
wanting you to understand that my impressive blogging streak does include making sure that my then-boyfriend, now-husband Michael wrote three entries after my open heart/valve replacement surgery in 2016, and
terrible at lying.

It’s no lie that it helps to know that you are not alone — that’s why I love being a group therapist (and that’s no lie either).

It’s no lie that my coping strategies, as we all deal with the pandemic and politics, include blogging, singing, dancing, walking, talking, eating, and tweeting.

It’s no lie that I’m no expert on lots of things, including Brazilians.

It’s no lie that Mark Bialczak and I both love Steely Dan and it’s no lie that I was singing and dancing to this in my neighborhood yesterday:

It’s no lie that I end each blog post with gratitude, so thanks to all who help me blog every day, including YOU!

Categories: group therapy, life during the pandemic, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: coping strategies, Home Depot, living with a congenital heart condition, lying, Steely Dan’s “Time Out of Mind”, telling the truth, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the South Shore of Boston, Twitter | 20 Comments

Day 3036: Life is renewed

Posted on April 24, 2021 by Ann Koplow

Since I have to renew this blog every day, sometimes I renew the title by reusing something from the news.

That photo from the Boston Globe might renew your memory of this photo from two days ago:

Life is renewed every day, and today I’m renewing

my hair with a visit to Mialisa salon,
my travel plans to Nashville, by talking with my friend Jenn in South Carolina,
my courage about traveling someplace I’ve never been before,
my hope that I’ll be able to connect with amazing blogger Christopher Waldrop while I’m there, and
my original song “Everybody’s Somebody’s Asshole,” to make it appropriate for family-friendly Open Mics in Nashville.

Life is renewed whenever I commit to being in the moment, so let’s renew by reviewing these moments together:

Life is renewed when we help another person, take a nap, and listen to music, like this renewal of Bach’s 2 Part Invention in D Minor by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band:

Life is renewed whenever you authentically express your feelings and thoughts, so consider leaving a comment below.

Life is renewed by gratitude, so thanks to all who help me renew my life by blogging every day, including YOU.

Categories: life during the pandemic, personal growth, photojournalism, self-care | Tags: gratitude, Home Depot, I have an implantable cardiac device and mechanical heart valve made by Boston Scientific, life renewal, Marina Bay, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, The Boston Globe, The Daily Bitch Calendar, tulips in Boston | 23 Comments

Day 3031: Discover What’s Possible

Posted on April 19, 2021 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, when I discovered it’s possible to return to a place like Home Depot without having a panic attack, I saw this:

As advertised at Home Depot, Michael and I discovered what’s possible, including:

buying a power washer so he can redo our decks,
getting keys copied (because I still can’t find the keys I lost when I was getting COVID in NYC over a year ago),
picking up mulch, and
misspelling “mulch.”

Earlier in the day, I discovered what’s possible if I venture some place new: down some stairs to a different stretch of rocky beach near where we’ve lived for three years.

And last night, I discovered it’s possible to dream and think about a patient who doesn’t exist, trying to figure out a way to help them heal.

It seems like I’m constantly discovering what’s possible, every day.

Let’s discover what’s possible in my other images from yesterday.

Yesterday, I didn’t think it was possible to sit at an impossible height for 2 hours for $2 million, but who knows about the future?

Let’s discover what’s possible in “The Last Ship” by Sting.

Let’s discover what’s possible when you express your thoughts and feelings in a comment, below.

I discover what’s possible every day when I express gratitude, so thanks to all who help me create this blog, including YOU.

Categories: group therapy, life during the pandemic, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "The Last Ship", fragile lives, Gun violence, Home Depot, Nashville Predators, South Shore of Boston, Sting, vegetable burritos, Yogi Tea | 13 Comments

Day 2582: Send the right message

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, after I tried to send the right message to my blog readers for the 2581st consecutive time, I saw this message at my local post office:

And I thought, how do we send the right message? And what makes a message right? And even if we do figure out how to send the right message, who’s to say how different people will receive and understand our message?

I don’t know if this is the right message, but I wonder what messages our governments and the media are sending these days. I also wonder if anybody is listening to other people’s messages. It seems like most people have decided what messages they are going to hear and they are not open to hearing any new messages, no matter how right they are.

Lately, I’ve been choosing to send the right message mostly through photos, like these: