A bipartisan bill that promised to pay for itself was passed yesterday. As the details come out it becomes more and more clear that what was said and what was done do not align. It could be "politics as usual" but doesn't that mean we've normalized deception? My point here, in Random Thoughts From a Therapist, is to look at how it is you and I blame each other from positions of rightness ... subconsciously missing the point. The subconscious is real (I'm trained in) ... but subconscious and unconscious are not one in the same. You see, "my subconscious" can be attended to. Besides, a bigger idealistic question I pose is this: I wonder if you and I are actually just really good people missing points because of a steeping cultural phenomenon. Money could wake a sleeping mind, but intent must be considered as a way to become culturally and politically conscious.

Masks have kind of made their way into the political circles. It's like a subtle way, wearing a mask or not wearing one, to say I lean left or I lean right. Maybe it's just the display of obedience or rebellion? I have a political opinion, but I wouldn't share it with a mask. There's too many other ways to say political things. Masks? Oh, those are for other reasons ... I suppose.

Planning for a pandemic suggests that a pandemic could not have been. In the midst of one, doing what you can to stay as healthy as possible makes sense. As the world relives and relearns again, small things change everything and the world really really is a small small place. The frailty of humanity, the vulnerability of all - may lead to equality awareness as opposed to more of who is causing the problem. In a pandemic, it is an evasive, elusive and hard to be seen virus causing a world of power to humble a bit. The person next to you, and if not close, then the loved one who is a phone call or letter away could use a little of your connecting. Oh and you might give yourself some love too in these isolating times. It's a third option view to what can be done in pandemic times.

When power and politics enter the stage what's debated is the impeachable. What's missed in this power and politics distraction is you and I - the people and the purpose. Here again, an expert in mental health takes the stuff of today and suggests a third option.

Feelings and thoughts and actions occur. These can be viewed as negative, bad, wrong or in some other pejorative phrase. The judgment if "negative" itself is a bias, "bad" is a bias and "wrong" is too (well, outside of actual safety anyway). The good news is that biases can change. How? By changing the judgment. Even as studies about implicit bias suggest it cannot be changed much at all - a new science in its seminal stages is noteworthy here too - changing a view is simpler than you think. Feeling down can be something more. Doubting thoughts can be something else. Trudging along may not be at all ...

As a Dallas police officer is sentenced in court and as impact statements of other loved ones are directed to her injurious killing, the brother of the deceased takes a different tone. His ability to focus on the reason for the murder trial, conviction and sentencing (in what may also be an injustice as the mother and other family members make clear too) is a story of great determination, passion, love and internal wherewithall. This young man, barely past the criteria for adulthood, grabs onto what matters the most to him ... that is what his deceased brother wanted and therefore finds a way to keep alive the character of his older and valued and now gone sibling. Yahoo news reports the story in a way that captures all sides of the many relative legal, cultural, moral and political arguments of our day, in what I would rate a perfect 10 stars in true news reporting! From the coverage of crooked systems, faulty investigations and training, faith toting Jesus moments before the jailhouse, seasoned prosecutors and crying judges along with the hug of a victim sibling to a police officer killer these newsworthy moments are hard to overlook. Today, as you listen, consider checking your biases - well - at the door. You CAN do it, as this human strenghtening moment emulates.

As traumatic events continue to hit the American psyche the divide over guns remains stuck. Agreement about plastic straws certainly is not evident in the US though. Collectively saving the sea turtles and recycling straws or sucking through mushy melting paper ones seems to be gaining ground from all sides. While the exact numbers of injuries and deaths to sea turtles is hard to find, the lives lost and hurt in "homegrown extremist" mass shootings is known. While the debates continue in what to do about guns and dying people the story of a unified front in straws, frankly, just sucks.

As healthcare (aka: health insurance and bankcare) remain embattled in quarter of century long arguments - providers and patients are simply getting sick. Here Random Thoughts From A Therapist takes an alternative view of yet another charged topic looking at what real care must mean.

As people go about judging this and that as good or bad the double bind emerges where no matter what you or they choose something will be wrong. Here when the bind is rooted in "good and bad" ways of thinking exaggerated emotional responses appear. As bad is always somewhere then so will fight and flight appear where real and tangible danger erupts. Changing the view from good and bad to something that includes the good intentions of nearly everyone who acts, might be a bit more akin to reality. "Good and bad", "right and wrong", these may create the binds that build exaggerated responses. Is "good and bad" normal? Statistically 51 of 100 makes anything normal. The better question may be is it healthy?

A holiday in American Culture about dear old dad - may stir for many things other than affection. How this happens can be viewed not only in the environment of a present or an absent father figure. And patriarchy will not resolve the connections either. Seeing that science offers up a bit of trust and care in the life cycle, from the making of babies (however that occurs) to curious connections can move us from issues of attachment and abnormal longings - to something as hormonal as the biological equivalence to "love." Whatever dad gave or didn't he may be one part if what makes you...you... and what makes you love. And to be clear, moms do too!