Just a week ago I was all about using CBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to solve some of the problems I face.
I've been able to do a few things to improve my existance...one day I did get up and meditated, and then did Qui Gong Shaolin breathing exercises.
Didn't continue, as each time the alarm went off, I chose to think about the dream I just had, or just plain went back to sleep. So much for good intentions over here.
BUT, I did use my almost expired Apple TV+ free time to watch a couple of enjoyable shows.
The first was Manhunt about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth following the assassination of Lincoln. I'd never paid any attention to Secretary of War, Edwin Seward's involvement before, and he's the lead character in this series. Several reasons this Manhunt was of interest to me.
First my middle name is Booth, after my maternal great grandmother, who was a descendent of the Texas Booths, who came from New England where they were early settlers...no relation as far as I know to the theatrical Booths. But when I had to give my full name, especially after moving to St. Louis, I felt eyes upon me, thinking I was related to John Wilkes. Well, maybe it was in my own head, but as a young girl, I definitely couldn't figure out why my mother saddled me with this middle name!
Second connection to the mini-series, was that Seward had asthma. He didn't have many drugs or the great treatments that I've available to me. My asthma is when I start coughing for no particular reason, and it escalates. But it was his cause of death. That's a bit sobering.
And third is my interest in reconstruction. Manhunt does a great job of presenting Lincoln's ideas vs. Johnson's...and how Seward had to deal with that conflict, since the War Department was overlooking reconstruction.
THEN, Apple TV also had another series which was recommended to me, about some therapists (yes, cognitive behavioral ones) including Harrison Ford. I'm in the midst of watching it now. It's hilarious. Great spoof on therapy, the humanity and foibles of therapists, and just all around fun (with quite a lot of swearing that didn't bother me a bit.)
Today's quote:
Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the same effect of youth and freshness and originality and spontaneity as it did originally, and you have done a poet's job. The rest is literature. -Jean Cocteau, author and painter (5 Jul 1889-1963)
