In my therapy sessions, we talk about achievable next steps. It’s often helpful when people think of these next steps as baby steps, especially when they are changing old patterns and habits.
Yesterday, when I was taking many steps in my neighborhood, I saw this:
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What steps do you see in my other images for today?
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I’m not finished yet. Here’s another one of my favorite jazz tunes: “Giant Steps” by John Coltrane.
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What steps are you taking these day?
Thanks to all who help me complete the steps for creating this daily blog, including YOU!
One of Michael’s favorite things are chocolate turtles, so I got him a box of those for our anniversary (with some proceeds going to protect sea turtles). At Phillips Chocolates, I saw this display of Oprah’s favorite things:
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Do you see favorite things in my other images for today?
The riskiest thing I do might be performing as The Singing Therapist. One of my favorite things is asking for feedback, so which of the four Singing Therapist photos above (taken by my favorite son Aaron) is your favorite?
Very rarely, I look at all the images I’ve gathered during a 24-hour period and have trouble coming up with an underlying or overlying theme. When that happens, I turn to my readers and ask “What’s the theme of this post?”
Who wants to play?
Maybe the theme today is “favorite things”?
In case that’s a possibility, here’s John Coltrane playing “My Favorite Things.”
What do you think the theme of this post is? There are no wrong answers, so please leave a comment, below.
One overlying or underlying theme in all my posts is gratitude, so thanks to all who help me blog every day, including YOU.
In therapy, I often ask people to think about achievable next steps, especially if they feel overwhelmed, powerless, and uncertain about the future. (Sound familiar, anybody?) Identifying an achievable next step can promote a sense of control and hope.
Here and now, my achievable next steps include
asking for more help in planning a high school reunion on Zoom,
going for a socially distanced walk on Day 2 of my 17-day staycation, and
writing my next blog post.
Do you see any achievable next steps in my photos from yesterday?
Those last four photos show my son Aaron taking some initial steps to explain category theory to me. He took some prior steps of describing category theory while we were stepping out on a neighborhood walk (pictured above).
is definitely achievable, because my son is an excellent teacher.
An achievable next step is to choose a YouTube video for today’s post. Here‘s one explaining John Coltrane‘s Giant Steps, “the most feared song in jazz history.”
Here‘s Giant Steps with somebody taking steps to add animated sheet music (but not for the piano solo):
People took the achievable steps of posting these comments on that YouTube video:
luis Bazan
5 years ago
It looks like I was watching a Tom and Jerry chase sequence, I like it
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Skippy the Magnificent
1 year ago
“What key is this in?”
“Yes.”
Does leaving a comment here feel like a giant step or an achievable next step to you?
Expressing gratitude is always an achievable next step, so thanks to all (including YOU!) who helped me take achievable next steps to complete this achievable next blog post.
“So What?” is an amazing tune by Miles Davis, which I’ve loved (and played on the piano) since I was 16 years old.
Your ears and eyes might tell you how “simple” that tune is. Yet, I’ve listened to it countless times. And I expect to keep listening, as long as my ears hold out.
“So What?” Take Two.
“So what?” is something I say to myself when I’m feeling discouraged, down, depressed, disenchanted, and other words that begin with the letter “d”.
As in, “So what if I do (or think, say, write, or feel) this, or anything else? What does it matter, ultimately? What can it really change? Who cares?”
“So What?” Take Three.
“So what?” is something I can say to myself in a freeing, liberating way, to get myself unstuck.
It’s actually one of my favorite ways to challenge cognitive distortions (which are unhelpful and automatic thoughts):
The So What? Technique. Consider that an anxiety-producing possibility (even the worst case scenario) might not be as bad as you fear. For example, “So what if this one person doesn’t like me? Not everybody is going to like me.” or “So what if I lose my cell phone? It’ll be an incredible hassle, but I’ll be able to deal with it.”
See here for a complete list of handy-dandy antidotes to cognitive distortions.
When I wrote that description above, I used the example of losing my cell phone, because I was feeling anxious about losing things. (See here for a post about THAT.) Since then, I’ve lost many things, including my credit card and checkbook (some temporarily, some not), but I haven’t lost my cell phone. Yet.
If I do, I’ll just use that antidote.
It’s a very simple remedy. It’s one that I’ve used many times before. And I expect to keep using it, as long as unhelpful thoughts hold out.
“So What?” Final Take
Here’s something my mother used to say:
“So what? Sew buttons.”
Thanks for reading today. (So what if you did?) (Sew buttons.)
