Yesterday, I did a mindfulness exercise where I invited people to focus on what makes them happy. Because our minds can automatically focus on what’s wrong or dangerous, it often takes effort and practice to think about what makes us happy (especially during unhappy times like these).
What makes you happy about my images for today?
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The Daily Bitch makes me happy and so does “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.
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What makes you happy, my friend?
Thanks to all who make me happy, including YOU!
Today is Let It Go Day, so whatever it is, let’s let it go!
Here’s a description of Let It Go Day from the betterhelp.com website;
I didn’t know that today was Let It Go Day when I asked this let-it-go question last night on Twitter.
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Let’s all let it go together, shall we?
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Here’s what else I find when I search for “let it go” on YouTube:
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Thanks to Insa Klasing and everyone else who helps me let it go every day, including YOU!
Who’s looking for peace of mind? I am and I’m guessing I’m not alone.
I hope you find some peace of mind here.
If I were going to write to my late father on this Write to Your Father Day, I’d write, “Dear, Dad. I did a show of my original songs and I got a standing ovation! I think you would have been proud.” This is giving me peace of mind, here and now.
What’s also giving me peace of mind is that I can blog more easily on my new laptop. That means it will take less time for me to give you a piece of my mind every day.
Here‘s what I hear in my mind when I think about “peace of mind.”
Thanks to all those who contribute to my peace of mind, including YOU!
No matter what’s going on, my prescription for others and for myself is often “stay in the moment.” That may sound odd when the current moment is very painful, but I still recommend it. Otherwise, we can project into the future with worry and fear or mind-travel into the past with second-guessing and regret, instead of committing to the opportunities and possible gifts of the present moment.
Here’s my latest song, “Stay in the Moment.”
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Try to stay in the moment as you look at my images for today.
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I don’t want to make a scene, but what helps you stay in the moment and why is that so difficult?
Thanks to all who help me stay in the moment, including YOU.
Last night, as I was having trouble sleeping during my first night on board a Viking River Cruise, I came up with a new mindfulness exercise of sending love to everyone. Sending love to everyone, including people I have trouble loving because of past hurts, was very healing and helped me get a good enough sleep, which makes it even easier to be sending love to everyone.
Now, I am sending love to everyone with these photos from Amsterdam.
Sending love to everyone, including the Daily Bitch (who always seems to be on point) and YOU!
Yesterday, in both of my Coping and Healing groups, I asked people to doodle during the mindfulness exercise, either on a drawing surface or in their heads.
Here’s a definition of doodle:
I’m doodling in my mind, right now, about how I asked people to be mindful and absentminded at the same time. Nobody seemed to mind that in the groups yesterday, including someone who likes to call mindfulness “mindlessness.”
For me, mindfulness is about being in the moment, taking a break from fears about the future and regrets about the past. When I was in school, I used to take a break from those by doodling octagons in my notebooks, like these:
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Last night, after a long day of work, I asked this question about doodles on Twitter:
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Do you see any doodles (or things you doodle) in my other images for today?
Someone in a group yesterday said they doodle zentangles and those came up when I searched YouTube for “doodles.”
I look forward to your word doodles in the comments section, below.
As always, I’m going to end this blogdoodle with thanks to all who help me doodle my thoughts and feelings here every day, including YOU.
The focus of today’s blog post comes from the Daily Bitch Calendar.
Now my focus is on wondering what would make a kick-ass obituary. I’m working on it.
Lately, my focus has been on radical acceptance and appreciating each moment for what it is. What’s been helping me with this focus is a question suggested by Michael Singer in “The Untethered Soul.” When I am overthinking something, I ask myself, “What part of me is disturbed by this?”
The focus of my answer to that question is usually “the part of me that is afraid to trust others and myself.”
Now, let’s focus on my images for today (which I hope are in focus).
The focus of the National Day Calendar for today is eating and drinking.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “focus.”
Now I’m going to focus on gratitude for all who help me blog every day, including YOU!
Mindfulness — staying in the moment as much as you can — is healing, no matter how old you are.
Yesterday, over-50 me was mindful of people I love and the beauty around me.
I am mindful that today is National Mutt Day, but I’m still going to look for a shelter cat.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “mindfulness over 50.”
I’ll be mindful of any comments you leave, below.
Thanks to all who contribute to my daily mindfulness here, including YOU!
Last week, when I was sitting at my laptop conducting an online therapy session, I gave somebody the assignment of sitting with the discomfort. When that person had some discomfort figuring out the details of the assignment, I said, “Sit for ten minutes every day, get in touch with the discomfort, and see what happens.” My belief was that it would not be difficult to get in touch with discomfort, because we are all feeling some discomfort these days.
Because I feel discomfort asking somebody to do something I am not willing to do, I committed to doing the same assignment of sitting with the discomfort daily for ten minutes until our next therapy session.
I have been sitting with the discomfort since then and, as I sit here with some discomfort (the aches and pains of early rising), I am comforted to tell you that I am finding that assignment helpful.
Too often, we deal with our discomfort with distraction, addictions, avoidance, and disconnection. It helps to just BE with the discomfort for ten minutes a day, noticing and observing without judgment.
Here are some images I captured yesterday when I was not sitting with the discomfort:
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There is some sitting, some discomfort, but mostly joy in “Good Morning” from Singin’ in the Rain.
I won’t be sitting with discomfort waiting for comments on this sitting-with-discomfort blog post.
I am grateful and comforted to be sitting, standing, walking, and blogging for you!
Two nights ago, when my very busy brain woke me up and prevented me from getting back to sleep, I tweeted this …
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I received very many helpful responses about very busy brains.
My very busy brain did come up with this mantra a month ago: “I am at peace. We are all one, connected.“ However, when my very busy brain is interfering with my sleep, I have trouble remembering it! This reminds me of the very first time I ever noticed the very busy Jeff Goldblum.
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Do you see evidence of very busy brains in my other images for today?
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Just like Scorpio Rising …
… I calm my very busy brain by spending time in nature and photographing it. Here are some photos I took within 20 busy miles from where I grew up:
Very busy brains tend to go into the future, often with worry about what will be. We need to refocus, over and over again, on the precious present moment.
My very-busy-brained husband, Michael, suggested yesterday that we calm our very busy brains by committing, once again, to no worry for a year. We tried that once before, starting in April 2019, and, unfortunately, our brains got very busy with worry in March of 2020, when I and very many other people came down with COVID.
Do any other very busy brains want to join me and Michael in committing to no worry for a year?
My very busy brain goes into the future and the past, so here’s one of my very favorite TV show theme songs from the distant past:
My very busy brain looks forward to some very busy activity in the comments section, below.
Finally, here’s some very busy gratitude for all who help me create these very busy posts, including YOU!
