a winter alone or a winter with friends
Imagine. It's a cold dark wet winters morning. You are awakened early by the beating of the rain on the window. It is still dark out and your clock says it is 6 am. No need to get up yet - no need to stir - so you turn over and snuggle down into the warmth of your bed and your quilt and pillows and - with one ear aware of the rain - you fall back asleep again.
By the time you re-awaken an hour or so later, the heating has kicked on and your room is cosy and warm as you get out of bed and after a nice hot shower get dressed ready to greet the day.
Coming downstairs, you meet someone you were chatting with the night before who is also staying at the same place you are - and you chat together as you come down to breakfast.
Entering the Dining Room, you notice others already down, and you share a smile and a 'Good Morning Campers' with them all and smiling madly, John or David - your hosts - bring you a nice hot mug of tea or coffee.
Perfect.
With gentle music playing - orange juice and breakfast are served.
Chatting with others in the morning helps bring you alive, as it's good to be with others and compared to living alone, eating alone, doing everything alone, this alternative, this togetherness, helps keep you young at heart, cheerful and laughing and chatting about so much more than when stuck on your own.
Now some people like to be alone - Good for them.
Most however like to be around others.
We are pack animals. We live and work better when with others.
Solitude is fine for a while but all sorts of emotional and mental games can and do play out in your mind when it has little input to amuse, entertain, educate and keep busy - otherwise it slows down, becomes sluggish and then all too easily, you take steps backwards as you become insular and inward looking and any progress can stop.
Cabin fever is common for people shut away alone.
Elderly people in care homes foster so much better with regular visits from younger people - as there is something about their young energy that vitalises the elderly and keeps them young thinking - keeps their mind more active and less sluggish, and life expectancy of people alone is less that that of people with family, friends, - people - around them - even if arguing and cussing each other, it keeps the mind active.
After breakfast - you are able to go back to be dif you wish - or take a walk to the beach or even the countryside - or into town to window shop - meet friends for lunch somewhere or even get together with other guests / residence staying and go to the same beach together - or simply meet up for lunch and share a laugh .
In the evening, meet up again with everyone around the dinner table and enjoy a home cooked meal along with company, new and familar faces - new guests and maybe other residents who live here - and enjoy good hearted warming banter whether it be about what you did today - what you did in the past - or current affairs or the virus and how well governments are doing - or not - but share - have an opinion - share your opinion and learn from others and never stop asking questions and seeking answers. You may be retired and you may be eldely, but it is never too late to learn new things - and this helps keep the mind alive and ticking.
Imagine a Christmas and New Year like this.
One extra bonus, if you want to take all your clothges off and enjoy the freedom of the house naked, you can. Meal breaks, watching telly together in the TV room or even in the privacy of your own rom - feel free to express yourself in whatever way is legal and decent ( kind of - although the boundaries here are very flexible ) and live the lifestyle many fantasise about , dream of, envy and resent in others, and here you are living the dream.
Imagine what you will tell your friends.
Imagine the look of wonderment on their faces.
They never knew you had it in you.
Imagine also the look of envy.
A beautiful ' home from home' hotel retreat accepting live in older gents to have their own room with telly and shower etc. and plenty of downstairs space to chillout and relax in, and all with meals and everything provided. Care and friendship - togetherness while allowing space to find your own space.
After months of lockdown - and after months alone - and after months missing the company of others - and after months maybe stuck with the same people all the time - imagine moving ionto a home where there are always new faces, new conversations, new friends to meet and new experiences almost on a daily basis. Just imagine how more exciting this is that living alone, knowing exactly what today and tom olrrow brings and it will be mjch the same next week and next month.
Predictable and always much the same.
Not at Hamilton Hall.
Not with living within our Community Living space.
Not for you.
Not for us.
Not
for anyone here.
Vibrant life - peaceful and npisy . Alone or with people. All extremes are possible and all that you need to help you live a better life with company.
Check it out as many have suffered this year - many have not enjoyed this lockdown and many have lived in fear. Maybe it is time to reconsider your future, your plans, what you want and what you have to offer. My Mother always said -
' You onlky get out of life what you out in.'
Maybe this is the time to make some changes
and start to live your mature years rather than exist with them.