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In my head, I'm sitting in an airy bar in Porto with a friend, eating mackeral fillets and sipping fine port.
In reality I've just cleaned up cat puke, and am about to head in to the office to do some work; but my head is staying in Porto a little longer.
In the moments when you daydream, where are you to be found?

A good question, which I'll answer before reporting you to Sir for mis-spelling mackerel.
I am in bed with my laptop and several folders updating a spreadsheet of my bank and credit card accounts.
When I escape from here in my head, I can often be found travelling in Tuscany some time in July; or cycling to a small village in the Czech Republic where they have excellent beer maybe? Or, as you said, sitting in a restaurant or on a terrace overlooking the Douro, maybe in Porto, maybe in Pinhão, maybe further upstream. I have never been to Vesuvio; so I think I'll go there now and sit on that balcony.
The important thing is that wherever I am, it's bloody hot and they have quite excellent booze.

I am sitting watching a documentary about Hitler's children - fascinating.

In my head I am sitting by the pool at Quinta do Crasto with a nice cold Portonic that has just been served to me by the Brazilian Beach Volleyball team who are now enjoying the pool. This must be what retirement looks like.

Ah! And where's Jo while the Brazilian beach volleyball team strip off for a dip?

The pool at Quinta do Tedo is nice too, or at Quinta de la Rosa. Or how about a swim in the Tedo, or a beautiful, leisurely paddle in a canoe on the Tedo, going past the vines at Pisca and maybe stopping to stroll up to Napoles for lunch?
I would love to be swimming in a lake in high summer. Perhaps the Schlachtensee in Berlin.

djewesbury wrote:Ah! And where's Jo while the Brazilian beach volleyball team strip off for a dip?

AHB was right - you have a filthy mind. Who said anything about anyone stripping off?

Jo would be chasing Monty around the Marie Therese vineyard. Search Youtube for Fenton to see what I mean.

Yes. I know the film. I see, you have a job for Monty already worked out.

Excellent!

Now we have all identified our 'happy place', next week we can do some visualisation work. And don't forget everybody, keep practising the mindfulness.

For the closing exercise I want to go round the room and each one of us will identify something we value in another person.

I'll start us off; Phil I admire your clarity of thought and open mindedness.

Who's next?

Owen, I admire your sincerity and lack of sarcasm. Very refreshing here.

Derek, I admire your newly discovered zeal for beach volleyball.

DRT wrote:Owen, I admire your sincerity and lack of sarcasm. Very refreshing here.

Derek , well done for trying, but if you could look in your workbook under 'types of interaction' and read up on 'passive aggressive' for next week.

I am in a house containing five loud children, and am trying to squeeze myself further into a diminishing glass of wine.

Would I be allowed to summons the bottle by Skype message? (I know the answer — don’t go there. Be present and here, not there.)

When I was in my early twenties and not yet into wine, I pictured myself on a Caribbean beach, sunshine, blue sky and water, lying in a deckchair sipping banana daiquiri (made with fresh bananas, not with banana juice). I think this was inspired by the opening scene of "Our man in Havana" where the main character sips his morning daiquiri in a beach bar. I think I have to update my daydreams to my wine passion.

Owen, it's interesting that you imagine yourself running a group therapy session when you allow yourself to daydream. Has it got so bad that this is what you fantasise about?

djewesbury wrote:Owen, it's interesting that you imagine yourself running a group therapy session when you allow yourself to daydream. Has it got so bad that this is what you fantasise about?

I can picture it now: The faithful all sitting in a circle in the sitting room of our retirement quinta with Owen dressed as Nurse Ratched.

DRT wrote:

djewesbury wrote:Owen, it's interesting that you imagine yourself running a group therapy session when you allow yourself to daydream. Has it got so bad that this is what you fantasise about?

I can picture it now: The faithful all sitting in a circle in the sitting room of our retirement quinta with Owen dressed as Nurse Ratched.

Please, Derek, don't excite yourself, you know what they said about your blood pressure. And we still have the Scotland game to manage tonight.

DRT wrote:

djewesbury wrote:Owen, it's interesting that you imagine yourself running a group therapy session when you allow yourself to daydream. Has it got so bad that this is what you fantasise about?

I can picture it now: The faithful all sitting in a circle in the sitting room of our retirement quinta with Owen dressed as Nurse Ratched.

It's the truth, even if it didn't happen.

Cut to the chase. I'm liking the words 'retirement quinta'. Who's in?

djewesbury wrote:Owen, it's interesting that you imagine yourself running a group therapy session when you allow yourself to daydream. Has it got so bad that this is what you fantasise about?

It is more that I have been asked this kind of question before. And I find it difficult to conjure an image, usually one is asked to picture a time when you were happiest or most content. For me this is usually something domestic and local, like the few days I spent hedging with my brother.

And I have run a men's group, fraught with difficulties particular to men it did not flourish.

djewesbury wrote:Cut to the chase. I'm liking the words 'retirement quinta'. Who's in?

Medication time gentlemen!

LGTrotter wrote:Medication time gentlemen!

Only if you let us watch The World Series.