🤗 If anyone lives in a place where they don't have friendly encounters with neighbours when they step outside, please take a greeting:
1) Off to work? The energy rolling off you is *incredible*. I hope it carries you through a wonderful day.
2) Hey! That is a smashing colour on you. The fabric looks super comfortable, too. Rock on, you stylish beast.
3) What a gift to see your face again! It's been a bit, hasn't it? Hope everything's going great with the fam--and say hello to your dog for me!
Although I had a lovely round of chats coming back from the run, I also had one fellow who rushed from friendly chat around the tinto vendor to trying to get my number.
The trick with this type is that they're not all ill-intentioned. Many are just so unused to being seen that they don't have a fuller range of scripts. Ah! Feminized person talking to me! Must pursue!
I politely decline but keep the group chat going. Most then get over the initial brain spaz & everyone goes away feeling good. 👌
But I've sat with enough elderly and hurting folk (volunteering in Canada especially) to know how easy it is to lose those social scripts. Touch deprived, disconnected, caught up in one's thoughts...
It's very easy for us to feel invisible, and very hard to return again to the full fraternity of human beings to which we all belong.
May we always remember the times when we've needed others to help us learn how to "people" again. There will surely come times when we need another's kindness anew.
@MLClark I am beginning to understand that we fade to invisibility as we age. It’s a very difficult process to stop, particularly in an age of small families.
An age of small families, and also a culture (especially in the West) of shuttling people off into age-divided living-communities.
I remember a study years ago that found a 2-9 year increase in lifespan, and related quality of life metrics, for elderly folk integrated with kindergarten cohorts more often. We NEED each other. We're animals, and a group species to boot.
But what an estranging world we've built for ourselves instead--and at such unnecessary cost to our wellness.
I've always thought retirement homes and such should have playgrounds. Really good playgrounds, I mean. Imagine how many more visits there would be to see the grand- and great grandparents! Liability issues, I suppose. Intergenerational housing would be the best scenario of all, of course.
With all the nifty new playground designs for full disability access, this should *totally* be more feasible, too! Then gramps and wee sprogs can play together.
Oh, the better world we could have had by now, if we hadn't sold off so much of the public trust. :/ (Writing an article this week on MAID, too, so I'm feeling super sad about the broken promise of Canada's social contract right now.)
"Looking forward to your article on MAID."
🤦🏻 That makes one of us!
I really hope the world offers a few nicer updates soon.
@MLClark @TheresaVermont
Omg, that's such a good idea! Too bad we hate good ideas, huh?
Looking forward to your article on MAID.