Everyday, we all make so many decisions that it’s no wonder that decision fatigue is a thing.
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I’m definitely susceptible to decision fatigue but it doesn’t stop me from making those 35,000 decisions a day. Sometimes, I actually good about those decisions, including booking a flight to Switzerland for my first ever solo trip to Europe.
I wish I lived in a nation where everybody could come in from the cold. Because of the cold people running this nation, it’s getting even more difficult to come in from the cold.
I hope this blogging space affords people an opportunity to come in from the cold.
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Here’s what I find when I search for “come in from the cold” on YouTube.
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Thanks to all who help me come in from the cold, including YOU!
Over and over again, different thoughts and feelings come up.
Over and over again, I let them flow through me, replaced by more.
Over and over again, I resolve to live more in the present and less in the past and the future.
Over and over again, I look at the news and wonder about the wild ride we are all on together.
Over and over again, I quote Yogi Berra: “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”
Over and over again, I need to get my teeth cleaned to prevent endocarditis (which I used to get over and over again) and I need to get my cardiac pacemaker replaced (some time in the next few months).
Over and over again, I wonder who will show up for my ActBlue fundraising concert on August 31. Over and over again I wonder if I’m ready to put on a good enough show.
Over and over again, I listen to music that I love as I walk all over my neighborhood.
Over and over again, I try to upload photos into this blog from my phone.
Over and over again I try to be patient with the process, no matter how long it takes.
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Over and over again, I post the daily holidays on social media and clear up ambiguities about them.
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Over and over again, I share the Daily Bitch Calendar here and in my therapy groups.
Here are some of the songs that people listen to over and over again:
This is Celine Dion singing Edith Piaf at the Olympics; just click to see it.
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Over and over again, I am grateful to all of you!!
taking time off from my work as a therapist even though many people struggle with depression and anxiety during and after the holidays,
expressing my increasing distress about my clicking jaw and all the noises I hear in my head whenever I talk or sing,
playing poker last night with my husband and son, taking a very long time to understand the rules, and then winning,
feeling sad and happy that my son is returning to his math doctoral program in Halifax today,
striking up a conversation yesterday with a couple who were admiring the beautiful sunset, only to discover that one was a math post-doctoral candidate from Harvard who had left academia to start a business, and then inviting him and his wife back to our home so he could connect more with my son,
correcting my typo of “subset” in the bullet point above to “sunset,”
The secret, for me, includes a good-enough night’s sleep.
Is there a secret in any of my other images today?
There is at least one secret in those photos. After years of living here and trying many times, I cannot figure out how to get to this intriguing location:
I have faith that the secret will be revealed some day, just not yet.
Here’s what comes up on YouTube when I search for “the secret”:
In the midst of all the action in yesterday’s petty post, there was this invitation to take time to reflect:
You may not have noticed that good advice from this good book:
because I was guilty of reflecting it on its side, like this:
I didn’t take time to reflect those two page in their correct orientation yesterday, because there was so much petty information I wanted to share.
Like Wilma, I believe it is important to take time to reflect, even in the midst of emergencies and adventures. Today, I have a day off from work because of Presidents Day, so I can take time to reflect. My boyfriend Michael, who definitely takes time to reflect, asked me to reflect on who were my most favorite and least favorite U.S. Presidents.
If you take time to reflect, how would you answer Michael’s question?
I’m going to take time to share something else Michael reflected: “These days everything seems sinister to me.” I took time to reflect Michael’s feelings and then to ask him if I seemed sinister to him. When he said no, I took time to reflect that I AM sinister, because “sinister” means “left-handed” in Latin.
Whenever I need to make an important decision, I like to look at all sides of the issue.
In order to look at all sides before making a decision, it helps to make a list of pros and cons of taking an action and also a list of pros and cons of NOT taking that action.
Yesterday, I took action and looked at all sides of many things.
Do you trust me to look at all sides and find two sides of a great song for this post (here and here)?
Every day, I look at all sides to find new ways to thank those who help me create this blog and you — of course! — for being on my side, every time you visit.
I knew that “Yikes!” would be today’s post title when I looked at my favorite watch yesterday.
Here are just some of my reasons for saying “Yikes!” right now:
I have to go in to Boston for more surgery today, exactly six weeks after my open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
The reason I need today’s surgery is that my Implantable Cardiac Device, which I received in May 2015, caused two deaths because of early battery depletion.
I had to stop eating and drinking last night at midnight, and I am not reporting for surgery until 11:30 AM.
The weather is going to be unseasonably warm and beautiful today, but I will be otherwise occupied.
The United States presidential election, less than a week away.
The Chicago Cubs might win the World Series tonight.
If I feel up to it, I hope to sing at an Open Mic Friday night.
Because of its latest update, my iPhone no longer recognizes my thumbprint but has lots of new features which I haven’t had time to learn.
Speaking of my “improved” iPhone, here are all the other photos I took yesterday. Do any of them make you go “Yikes!”?
Yikes! The words “warming” and “naturally” in that last photo, above, are reminding me of my first therapy session since my open heart surgery. Yesterday, my therapist George and I came up with a soothing ritual to help me prepare for today’s surgery — to place both my hands over my heart, to warm and naturally soothe my still painful chest cavity.
What is making you say “Yikes!” today, in your world?
Yikes! If I actually am able to sing at an Open Mic night in two days, will I remember all these lyrics?
Today’s post title was inspired by this Jaco Pastorius tune, magically playing as I walked around yesterday, during a magically beautiful Sunday.
(YouTube video of Opus Pocus by Jaco Pastorius found here)
Jaco Pastorius was a magician of a jazz bass player, who apparently had bipolar disorder and who died way too young. He played on several of my favorite albums of the 1970’s, like Jaco Pastorius(where “Opus Pocus” appears)
To demonstrate for you, ladies and gentlemen, the magic of Jaco, I looked for videos on YouTube of him playing live. And I found something very magical, for me: the full Shadows and Light concert from 1979, with many of my favorite magicians/musicians, including:
I am not imbedding the video of that concert into this post, because I’m concerned about how blog-posting magic might be working for me, these days. I’ve heard from some of my magical readers — Mark Bialczak and LadyPinkRose — about my posts loading too slowly.
Technology can seem like magic to me. When I am doing something new, I tend to learn only those spells I need to get some magic started. If there are problems later (in blogging and elsewhere), I can forget my ability to learn anew, to keep enchantments coming.
I’m working on improving the magic here. For now, I’m wondering how these images from yesterday are going to magically appear, for you:
Did you notice anything magically new there, in any way? (I’m going to reveal my behind-the-scenes trick: I tried to improve the WordPress Photo Witchcraft today, by scaling down those images in my media library.)
Now that I’ve magically altered my state of mind (if not my photos) — by summoning up that joyous performance of “In France They Kiss on Main Street” (starting at the 2:00 minute mark of the Shadows and Light concert) AND by sharing some personal magic with you — I’m ready to publish this post and start my work week.
