Thanks for starting the daily check-in thread. I'm not sure I've participated in it before, but I'm going to give it a try.
I have two kinds of therapy in my life right now that are weekly-- physical therapy and regular T. I think both are in a good place, my chronic pain issues are down about 80% and there are days when I don't have much or any pain at all. I think of my pain issues as less chronic than as susceptible to flareups from time to time. I also had a big breakthrough this week, as I was able to incorporate a "home" program of a difficult type for me that my physical therapist recommended and on which I worked at desensitization in my regular therapy.
Regular T is also in a good place. I'm in another phase when I think that I'm "done" discussing specific incidents or details and I'm focusing on being a better observer of my relationships with others and understanding my emotional reactions. I have noted that I am standing back from many of my close relationships right now, not in a rejecting or angry or otherwise negative way, but just as if I need to have more of a zone of solitude around me.
Today I feel good, physically and mentally, still somewhat nurtured by the glow of a good session yesterday and the positive reactions of my writer's group to something I read yesterday. They are consistently enthusiastic about my writing, and I appreciate them so much. It is a strange sense of intimacy with them-- they know quite a bit about me from my writing (or they think they do, some of what I've written has been fiction but I notice they think it's autobiographical), but I've never been in a social situation with them that involves personal disclosure or anything that reflects friendship or social connection in any way.
My H and son have left the house this morning, and I am enjoying my solitude (how I love the house to myself, it is as if I relish it). Listening to jazz before I take off for my day, which includes a writer's event, a visit to an art gallery (which I decided to still do even though my friend canceled on me), and then dinner at another friend's house. She's a wonderful cook, and someone I can say to, "hey, when are you going to have me over for fried chicken?" And she'll reply, how about this Saturday night? I'm going to make this completely ridiculous calorie-laden "apple dumpling" dessert that is full of terrible processed ingredients but tastes amazing. I very rarely eat or cook with processed ingredients but this thing is so gestalt (whole is greater than the sum of the parts) that it makes people weep. And of course I"ll post the recipe link for you, but I will respectfully suggest that you not ever try it.
Country Apple Dumplings Recipe - Allrecipes.com