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Self-care With Virtual Therapy Dogs On Instagram

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Self-care with virtual therapy dogs on Instagram.

How are you doing? I mean really.

I’ve been feeling stressed. Yoga and meditation help, but sometimes they’re not enough.

Between the humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the wildfires in California, Trump’s constant online and offline bullying, ignorance and cruelty, and the recent news of Harvey Weinstein’s decades long brutality towards women, it gets to be too much.

There have been several posts that I planned to do over the past few weeks, but didn’t have the time and emotional energy to do them. But I do have a tried and true method of self-care.

In health care, self-care is any necessary human regulatory function which is under individual control, deliberate and self-initiated.

I don’t have a pet, but find myself drawn towards cute little dogs.

Emotional support animals are used by people who have a diagnosed medical disability. Therapy dogs aren’t usually service animals, but are often brought to people in stressful situations for comfort.

There are three dogs on Instagram that I go to for comfort when I find myself feeling overwrought. If you follow me on twitter, you can probably guess the timing!

Just looking at these cute little dogs calms me down. Anyway, my personal virtual therapy dogs are: Norbert, Bibi Shasha and Popeye the Foodie. You’re welcome!

What are you doing for self-care?

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Image: Collage made from Instagram pictures.

Sunday Morning at Wollaston Beach

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Collage of six pictures, sandy beach with water, sea grass, a book with travel mug, a hand holding an egg sandwich, feet with grey sneakers over the sand.I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’d like to spend my summer mornings.

In my fantasy life, I would sit on the front porch, back deck or balcony sipping my coffee, eating my breakfast and reading a good book.

In my real life, I don’t have a front porch, back deck or balcony. But I have to be grateful for what I have and work with what I’ve got.

Wollaston Beach is just a five minute drive from me. So I started thinking. Why don’t I just make my breakfast and bring it to the beach? So I made a spinach, kale, fried egg, Parmesan cheese sandwich with rosemary and olive oil flatbread.

Then I made my coffee and used my What Would Olivia Pope Do? travel mug. It makes me wildly happy. The little things! I put on my favorite sneakers and headed out the door.

The salty beach air smelled wonderful. I mostly ignored a few ants. After all, I was in their territory. And I really enjoyed my breakfast and reading my book.

It was a nice start to my day and I enjoyed taking a few pictures while I was out there. Since I started blogging, I stopped keeping a regular diary. Instead I keep a notebook with goals, random thoughts and things that I want to remember.

Instagram is slowly becoming a daily diary of sorts. Not that I’m sharing my deepest feelings and thoughts. But I am documenting my life and being mindful of all that I have to be grateful for.

Sky Photo Project ~ May 19, 2017

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Three picture collage, each with blue sky and clouds.

For my Sky Photo Project, I’ve mostly been taking one picture a day.

This past Friday, as I was walking home from the train, I took a picture. I noticed the clouds and light looked different even just a few feet away. So I took a couple more pictures — all within five minutes.

Nothing earth shattering. Just some blue sky and clouds. But it made me happy.

Sky Photo Project on Instagram

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Collage with several pictures of blue skies with clouds.

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably noticed that I love taking pictures of the sky and tops of trees.

Even though the sky and trees are the same thing, they are never the same thing.

Especially the sky. There are so many variables. The amount of sunlight or moonlight. The shade of blue. The types of clouds.

I never get bored, because the pictures are always different. In fact, I get more fascinated the more pictures I take. It made me wonder.

How many types of sky can there be? What would it look like to take a bunch of pictures over time and compare? So about a month ago I started the #ljskyproject on Instagram. Sort of like my Virgo Season Photo Project. I’m still noticing the details.

This project could go on for quite some time. Which is fine. Because so does the sky.