Please forgive me for any mistakes I make here, as I try to forgive myself for the mistakes I am inevitably making while I navigate this complicated world.
I believe forgiving mistakes is imperative for us to remain present and committed to growth and connection.
While I was forgiving my own and others’ mistakes at an intensive group training yesterday, I had time to capture these images.
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I am forgiving mistakes I made while performing the song I wrote with my friend and fellow social worker Nat Shirley — “Nobody’s Perfect.”
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Thanks to all who are forgiving mistakes, including YOU.
I love the way the Democrats are working together to elect Kamala Harris President of the United States.
In the meantime, I’m working together with some very talented people to create an album/videos of my original songs. Here are Riccardo Pearlman and Nat Shirley (who co-wrote “Nobody’s Perfect” with me) working together at my place yesterday:
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Do you see others working together in the rest of my images for today?
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On Presidential Joke Day, I hope we are all working together to make sure that we don’t elect another Presidential Joke.
Here are Nat Shirley and I working together on “Nobody’s Perfect” five years ago at an Open Mic:
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Soon, because Riccardo Pearlman and I are working together, there will be better recordings/videos of my songs to share.
Thanks to all who are working together, here and now, including YOU!
Hope you like cats, because I often include cats in this blog.
Hope you like Rachel’s t-shirt, because I do.
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Hope you like that picture of Rachel and Nat, who co-wrote the song “Nobody’s Perfect” with me. Hope you like Nat and I performing “Nobody’s Perfect” at an Open Mic five years ago.
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Hope you like the other images in today’s blog.
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Hope you like that today is Reach As High As You Can Day. I do, because I know that Nat, my singing teacher Shereé, and all the other people who’ll be helping me with the upcoming show of my original songs will allow me to reach as high as I can (including some difficult high notes).
Hope you like my singing teacher Shereé Dunwell reaching all notes beautifully with “Sweet Love” here.
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Hope you like that I end every blog post with gratitude for YOU.
I have invited many people to realize that they are not alone, in Coping and Healing therapy groups and also here at WordPress.
This week, I’m going to conduct five Coping and Healing groups and each one of us participating will be alone in a room because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I may wear this t-shirt while facilitating a Coping and Healing group this week:
I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone. — Rainer Maria Rilke
I don’t want to be alone, I want to be left alone — Audrey Hepburn
The only real progress lies in learning to be wrong all alone. — Albert Camus
Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work. — A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little. — George Carlin
We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders. — Maya Angelou
When the people you love are gone, you’re alone. — Keanu Reeves
My first loud action in today’s blog is to share this photo of five words:
I’m just now noticing that “louder” is the quietest word in that sign.
My second loud action is to share many words about when to shut up!?
Are the actions in my remaining photos louder than the words?
This might take several minutes to listen to the words and music in “Nobody’s Perfect” co-written by almost perfect social work intern Nat Shirley and me. Last night, Nat and I took the action of loudly performing our act at an Open Mic.
I look forward to your words and actions about today’s post.
Now, it’s time to take the action of loudly expressing words of gratitude to YOU.
I’m up for anything, including sharing this first attempt by Nat and me to create harmonies for “Nobody’s Perfect.”
I’m up for telling you that Nat wrote the melody for “Nobody’s Perfect.” I may not be up for singing that high when we perform it, so we may have to lower it.
Now I’m up for your comments, which you can make below.
I’m definitely up for thanking those who helped me create this up-for-anything post (especially Nat), and — of course! — YOU, for being up for anything in this blog.
It’s unbelievable that I’ve never written an “unbelievable” post before, especially during these unbelievable times.
Would you believe me if I shared what inspired today’s unbelievable post?
That unbelievable scale was on my office white board to greet me on my return back to work yesterday after an unbelievable week in Los Angeles.
It’s unbelievable to me that there are so many new friends out there for me to meet. Here’s an email exchange I had with my new friend Don (featured in this unbelievable blog post from two days ago):
Ann,
It was great meeting you last evening at Dynasty! I hope you had a great and safe journey home!
Here is a link to download your set from The Tomorrow Show.
Let me know when you have it downloaded properly and that t works for you, as I’ll have to clear that space on my Box Drive.
I’m excited to start reading your blog too. You gave me a lot of good stuff to think about yesterday!
All the best,
Don
Don!
Thank you so much for sending this and for your kindness and welcoming good nature yesterday. I am home safe and sound if somewhat psychotically overtired. I believe I did download the video properly so feel free to delete it. And here is my blog post for today with a proper photo of you:
I hope you don’t object to the idea that every object has a story, including all the objects in the photos I took during the last day and night of my week-long visit to Los Angeles: I go for …
annkoplow.wordpress.com
All the best,
Ann
Ann,
I’m glad you made it home safely, albeit filled with psychotic fatigue! I’m honored I made your blog!
FYI Adrian and the other folks also remarked that you were an awesome lady so feel free to be flattered (but don’t let it go to your head)!
All the bestest foreverest and stay in touch!
Don
These days I’m letting compliments go to my head and I would advise you to do the same, my awesome new friend.
All the best,
Ann
Well, you are a professional so that’s sound advice!
Best,
Don
I wonder if Don, if he does read this blog, will find it unbelievable that I shared our email exchange. I’m doing so because I find it unbelievable that people worry about compliments going to people’s heads (including their own). I will repeat that unbelievable advice for you, here and now: please let compliments go to your head. It’s unbelievable to me that believing compliments could harm our heads in any way.
Let’s see if there’s anything unbelievable in the new photos I am sharing with you today.
That unbelievable list of topics was written by an unbelievable social work intern named Nat who facilitated my Thursday evening therapy group while I was away. Nat is an intern with unbelievable therapy skills and also an unbelievable song-writer and musician. I asked Nat if he would co-write an unbelievable song with me titled “Nobody’s Perfect,” which we are going to rehearse and perform at next month’s open mic. Unbelievable!
It’s unbelievable that I can’t figure out which Hanson is featured in that second song.
Many people are finding it unbelievable that Luke Perry died yesterday at age 52.What’s unbelievable to you, here and now?
If you find it unbelievable that I am grateful, day after day, to all those who help me write these unbelievable blog posts and grateful to those who read them (including you), believe it, baby!
Exactly two hundred and seventy-one days/posts ago (but whose choice is it to count?), I published a post titled “Choices” in which I chose to share an exercise about the topic of “Choices” from a therapy group the day before. Today, my repetitive choice is to mention yesterday’s therapy group, wherein people made choices to focus on the topic “Choices” from all the topics discussed and to share (1) important choices from the past, (2) choices coming up for them, and (3) what makes choices more difficult or easier.
My photographic choices yesterday included these choice images:
Note that a patient made the choice of “anticipation” over “hopelessness” from the feeling chart on my office door:
Also, I didn’t make the choice to photograph my list of important life choices, which included:
Going back to social work school to become a therapist in the 1990s,
Deciding to specialize in group therapy, and
Developing my Coping and Healing groups.
What important life choices have you made?
Earlier this week, I made the choice to ask Nat — a social work intern and fellow musician — to write a song with me, which we will choose to perform together, singing close and choice harmonies, at a future open mic.. Together Nat and I have already made some choices including this one: I write the lyrics and Nat writes the music.
My choice is to share these lyrics with you:
Nobody’s Perfect
lyrics by Ann Koplow
Nobody’s perfect
Even us two.
We try to be perfect
But that doesn’t do.
We both make mistakes,
In that, we’re like you.
Nobody’s perfect.
That’s perfectly true.
Nobody’s perfect,
Including your friends.
If you’re looking for perfection
Those friendships might end.
Your friends make mistakes,
In that, they’re like you.
Nobody’s perfect.
That’s perfectly true.
Perfectionism makes us imperfectly judgy,
Rigid, unhappy, refusing to budge-y,
It makes thoughts and feelings uncomfortably sludgey
With harsh self-flagellation even if you’re just pudgy.
Nat chose to tell me he’s glad we’re writing a song together with the choice words “self-flagellation.”
Nat made the choice yesterday to send me some choice music he’s already composed for “Nobody’s Perfect.” Soon, we’ll be making more musical choices together, including featuring the choice fiddle stylings of our talented co-worker, Alice Malone.
Other people have made the choice to write songs titled “Nobody’s Perfect” including this one:
I wonder what choices my readers will make in the comments section, below.
As always, I make the choice to end my posts with gratitude for all those who helped me create this post and — of course! — YOU, for making the choice to visit this blog, here and now.
One of the stress-relieving “antidotes” I give people in therapy is this:
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.”
This list is so long that people might be skimming it, at this point?
I keep adding to this list even after I published this post?
These are the only pictures I have to share with you today?
So what if you can’t choose a favorite picture there?
So what if you don’t like this tune, which I LOVE?
So what if I never locate a copy of the Berklee College of Music recruitment video I helped create in the 1990s, which used that tune in the opening?
So what if people don’t leave a lot of comments about this post?
So what if I need to write another blog post approximately 24 hours after I publish this one? I love doing this, every day. Thank you for being a part of it, here and now.
