Because I’m not qualified to give you an exact definition of “qualified,” here’s how it’s defined online:
qual·i·fied
ˈkwäləˌfīd/
adjective
1.officially recognized as being trained to perform a particular job; certified.
“newly qualified nurses”
2.not complete or absolute; limited.
“I could only judge this CD a qualified success”
Yesterday, I asked my boyfriend Michael — who is qualified to be a boyfriend, a cook, and (according to one of my doctors) a nurse — how he was feeling. Michael qualified and quantified his feelings like so:
I am Q fine.
While Michael is more qualified than I to explain exactly what he meant, I can tell you that “Q” stands for “Qualified”” I will also qualify that by explaining that Michael’s “Q” reflects the second definition of “Qualified” above.
Why is my qualified boyfriend responding that he is “Q fine” lately? Again, Michael is more qualified than I to describe his thoughts and feelings, but I am qualified to guess that Michael’s feelings are qualified by worries about whether Donald Trump is qualified to serve as our President for the next four years.
I don’t think of myself as a qualified photographer, but some of my readers do. Here are my qualified images from yesterday:
I think those photos need to be qualified as follows:
- My son Aaron and I are both qualified to use FaceTime to communicate while he is away at school in Scotland.
- Aaron was qualifying many of his remarks to me yesterday while playing with tomatoes.
- Even though I am a qualified mother, I did not tell Aaron to stop playing with his food.
- We are all qualified to practice mindfulness, to breathe, and to make time for ourselves.
Am I qualified to pick the right music for today’s post? Yesterday, Michael and I heard beautiful music on the radio played by Nicholas McCarthy, who is completely qualified as a concert pianist despite having been born with only his left hand.
How would you qualify your thought and feelings, here and now? You are the ONLY ONE qualified to truly know and express your own experience. I declare that as a qualified psychotherapist, mother, and human being.
I am also qualified to give unqualified thanks where thanks are due — to all those qualified people who helped me create today’s post and to you, of course!
