In the notes I write for my Coping and Healing groups, the topics often include “cause and effect.” What causes me to do that is that people often like to identify relationships between events, even when that relationship might not exist.
For example, when I noted yesterday that our ailing Bonsai tree was doing better, my usually very logical husband Michael replied that my saying that out loud was going to cause problems for the Bonsai tree. I don’t believe in that kind of cause and effect, so I’ll just keep speaking my mind whenever I choose.
Do you see cause and effect in my images for today?
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The fact that today is National Dance Day is going to cause me to effectively ask my husband to dance with me later.
A patient telling me she loves the group Bleachers is causing the effect of my choosing this song for our dance tonight:
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Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “cause and effect.”
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I wonder if my asking for comments about this cause-and-effect post will cause you to leave one, below?
There are many causes that contribute to the effect of my expressing gratitude to you, here and now.
If you want to hear Anna and Valerie — both wonderful mothers of children with congenital heart defects — and also your daily blogger discuss our experience of COVID-19, click on the link in the previous paragraph.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed our world. And yet, our socially distanced world still has so much beauty, as I choose to see in my photos from yesterday.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed our world, but
When I wrote that post last June, I was definitely performing some self-transformation, as I often do with this blog. That day, I was transforming the sadness, anger, and shock I felt about somebody’s behaviors into a positive and upbeat blog post. I left some subtle clues about that transformation in my photos of book titles (which include lots of “f-cks,” one “sh-t”, and a “You Can’t Hurt Me”). That behind-the-scenes transformation helped me cheer up, move on, and face another day.
Today, I want to share transformation of a different kind. Yesterday, my Coping and Healing group transformed our roving thoughts into focused mindfulness by using the angel cards which a past transforming group member left me years ago. One of the members chose this card:
I chose this card …
… which was one of the few blank cards in the pack. When I focused on that card during the mindfulness exercise, I noticed a transformation. Somebody had tried to write something on that card, with a pen that had no ink. Can you see it?
I tilted the card into the light, to try to discover the hidden markings.
At first, I thought the hidden word (which definitely started with a “T”) was “Thankfulness” ( probably because I find thankfulness so transformative). After many moments of mindful scrutiny, I finally discovered what somebody had tried to write on that angel card, years ago.
Transformation
Then, when it was my turn to check in, I shared that transformation with the rest of the group.
Do you see transformation in any of my other recent photos?
One of the group members yesterday asked the rest of us how we would transform ourselves, if transformation was possible. Somehow, that transformed into a conversation about ducks, including
how some of us are ducks — calm on the surface with lots of action below,
the transforming coping strategy of letting things roll off one’s back, like a duck, and
Now it’s time for another transformation — I shall transform this blog post into a guessing game! Last night, Michael chose this classic Tom Jones song for us to dance to after dinner:
Michael told me that the young guitarist playing on that track later transformed into one of the most famous guitarists in rock and roll. After I guessed Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and others, I finally came up with the right answer. Can you?
Feel free to transform your thoughts and feelings into a comment, below.
As always, I end these posts with a transformation of thankfulness for all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU!
Yesterday, on a special day, I noticed “Special Operations” on a parked police motorcycle.
I thought, “I’m going to be interviewed for a special podcast tonight about my special heart and several special operations, including open heart surgery.” As I was taking that special photo for today’s “Special Operations” blog post, I heard somebody speaking to me and that turned out to be special operations officer Hicks:
I explained to Officer Hicks, “I took that photo because I’ve had many special operations on my heart.” He said something special, like “Those special operations must have gone well because you look pretty good considering you’ve had all those special operations.” He also said he didn’t think he was handsome enough to be in a blog, which I thought was especially modest.
Officer Hicks and many other special operations officers were in Boston yesterday, in preparation for the special Boston 4th of July celebration today. Minutes after I photographed special operations officer Hicks, I noticed something special on my car.
I thought, “What?!?! It’s true that I just spent a long time getting a special teeth cleaning and also talking to my special dentist Dr. Del Castillo, who is doing so well after having the special operation of a double lung transplant, but I don’t think that took over two hours!” I looked more closely and saw this special reason for that ticket:
Since when do they give out special tickets for being over 1 ft from the curb, especially since only the back of my car barely met that special criteria?
I know that special operations officer Hicks is not somebody who gives out tickets and — in case he thinks that I’m looking for special treatment — I already did an online special operation last night to pay it.
Do you see any special operations in my other special photos from yesterday?
As you can see from those photos, I did a special operation of pre-medicating before my dental cleaning and did a special operation when I got home — trying out a new cat carrier on Oscar, our cat-in-a-bag.
After my special boyfriend Michael and I walked around our special neighborhood last night (and saw some unexpectedly special fireworks and a special beach bonfire), we danced to this special 4th of July song:
Now, I’m going to request that you do the special operation of making a comment, below.
Happy July 4th to everybody who performs the special operation of reading this blog, including YOU!
It took me several special operations to upload my photos today. I hope you don’t have to perform any special operations to see them!
Yesterday, I wrote and read “DUH!” in a therapy group.
Would it help for me to share why and how I did that? Duh.
Things that are right side up are, duh, easier to read.
What does “Self Care” mean to you? It means taking care of my self. DUH!
Self Care also means balancing my needs with other people’s needs and, duh, this:
Well, duh! It’s time for a definition of “duh.”
duh
interjection
\ ˈdə , usually with prolonged ə \
Definition of Duh
1 —used to express actual or feigned ignorance or stupidity
Duh, I don’t know.
2 —used derisively to indicate that something just stated is all too obvious or self-evident
Well, duh!
Examples of Duh in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Lee and his family are buried there, his marble, recumbent statue adorning the campus chapel known as, duh, Lee Chapel.
— Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati.com, “Doc: No clear solution to offensive symbols,” 22 Aug. 2017
Well, duh. Prescott ranked third in the league in passer rating, ahead of Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.
— Pat Fitzmaurice, SI.com, “Dallas Cowboys Fantasy Football 2017 Preview: Can Elliott Repeat Breakout Season?,” 2 Aug. 2017
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘duh.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Despite my commitment to creating a daily blog post for the past nineteen hundred and thirteen days (but who’s counting?), I have written only one prior blog post about commitments. That was over four years ago, when I had made a commitment to blog daily for one year. At the end of 2013, I decided to expand the commitment to blog daily for as long as I could.
When things are getting in the way of your doing something, it can help to make a commitment to yourself or to others. For example, I’ve been having trouble committing to doing my taxes, so last Sunday I made this commitment to myself:
From now on, I shall work on my taxes one hour every day.
Because I have a commitment to the truth, I’ll tell you that after making that commitment I decided that commitment wouldn’t start until the next day However, I have honored that commitment every day since. And that commitment has helped me
work on my taxes,
leave room for other things in my life, and
let go of worry, angst, and other painful thoughts and feelings about taxes.
I’m not sure why I have a yearly commitment to feeling bad about taxes, but I’ve committed to writing other blog posts about that here, here, herehere.here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. While I made a commitment to link to those many other taxing blog posts I don’t expect anybody to make the commitment to reading all of them.
However, here’s a commitment that’s easier to fulfill — looking at my photos from yesterday. Let’s see if any of them show commitments.
I’m so happy I made a commitment last year to moving near the water.
