Do you ever wish the world would slow down just a little? You remember that earlier this week I was musing about living on an island, away from the hustle and bustle and noise of daily life. I'm almost certain I could so easily make a wonderful hermit. Really, all I need is Hubby & our furbaby Jade and I'd be happy no matter where we were I think💖
Our home is my calm place. I work in a very busy, bustling, rarely-quiet-for-an-instant retail environment and at times the noise can be deafening. Somehow, over the years, I've learned how to tolerate this sometimes cacophonous environment, even though noise is actually painful to me because I actually enjoy my job. My time there is really, other than doctors/hospital appointments the only time I leave our home.
I know from talking to others at work that I'm not alone either in my (almost) isolation from the world. In fact, it seems to me that the more connected the world has gotten, with wifi everywhere, face-time and skype replacing being in the same room as friends and family and many people working from home, the more isolated many people have become.
I grew up in a generation that knew all of our neighbours honeys. Checking in on elderly neighbours as we went past on our way to the shops was second nature. Were they OK? Did they need anything from the shops while you were there? That same sense of community seems to have been lost to us, at least where I live.
The world is moving so fast now, everything is expected to be "on" around the clock. Shops can stay open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. If you don't want to leave your sofa, you can shop online. TV is constantly on air too. Comparing this to the world I grew up in is like comparing night to day.
Shops back then would open at 9am and close between 5-5.30pm, there was half day on Wednesday, when the local grocery store (before supermarkets... how old am I lol) would close at lunchtime and stay closed until next morning. Nothing, absolutely nothing was open on a Sunday.
Even the local park wouldn't open it's gates. Sunday was for Sunday school, church and of course family time. TV stations... all three of them, would go off air around 11pm with God Save The Queen, our national anthem, played to end the day.
"Down time" was built into our lives back then. TV stations went off air, a signal to even night owls that they should think about going to bed. That half day for local shops gave retail workers much needed time too since most worked all six days each week and might have home and family responsibilities.
When I finish work tonight, somewhere between 10.30-11pm, my workplace will still be busy. Others, possibly also working less than sociable shifts will pop in on their way home or even on their way to work.
There's no doubt that we've gained enormously from all of the new technology available to us. At Secondary school I remember all of us becoming ridiculously excited when our school took delivery of two electric typewriters! My family, like many others, collected an encyclopedia one volume at a time and I would spend hours pouring over each part, can you imagine if we'd had the internet?
We have gained so, so much honeys but maybe we've lost something equally as valuable? In our 24 hour a day, always switched on world, maybe we need a little stillness. Just a little quiet space where we can "unplug" from the noise of the world and just be still.
I have my calm wall and whenever life starts to become too much, too overwhelming, I go upstairs, sit in the middle of the bed in our master bedroom and stare into the beautiful beach canvas I have there. I've done it for so long now that I can step into the image, walk down the stairs to sit on the beach and just breathe. That is where I find my stillness. It even helped me through a CT scan in the hospital.
Where do you find your calm honeys? How do you unplug from the world and rest? Til next time dear ones, smile lots and hug even more, hugs always x
I grew up in a generation that knew all of our neighbours honeys. Checking in on elderly neighbours as we went past on our way to the shops was second nature. Were they OK? Did they need anything from the shops while you were there? That same sense of community seems to have been lost to us, at least where I live.
The world is moving so fast now, everything is expected to be "on" around the clock. Shops can stay open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. If you don't want to leave your sofa, you can shop online. TV is constantly on air too. Comparing this to the world I grew up in is like comparing night to day.
Shops back then would open at 9am and close between 5-5.30pm, there was half day on Wednesday, when the local grocery store (before supermarkets... how old am I lol) would close at lunchtime and stay closed until next morning. Nothing, absolutely nothing was open on a Sunday.
Even the local park wouldn't open it's gates. Sunday was for Sunday school, church and of course family time. TV stations... all three of them, would go off air around 11pm with God Save The Queen, our national anthem, played to end the day.
"Down time" was built into our lives back then. TV stations went off air, a signal to even night owls that they should think about going to bed. That half day for local shops gave retail workers much needed time too since most worked all six days each week and might have home and family responsibilities.
When I finish work tonight, somewhere between 10.30-11pm, my workplace will still be busy. Others, possibly also working less than sociable shifts will pop in on their way home or even on their way to work.
There's no doubt that we've gained enormously from all of the new technology available to us. At Secondary school I remember all of us becoming ridiculously excited when our school took delivery of two electric typewriters! My family, like many others, collected an encyclopedia one volume at a time and I would spend hours pouring over each part, can you imagine if we'd had the internet?
We have gained so, so much honeys but maybe we've lost something equally as valuable? In our 24 hour a day, always switched on world, maybe we need a little stillness. Just a little quiet space where we can "unplug" from the noise of the world and just be still.
I have my calm wall and whenever life starts to become too much, too overwhelming, I go upstairs, sit in the middle of the bed in our master bedroom and stare into the beautiful beach canvas I have there. I've done it for so long now that I can step into the image, walk down the stairs to sit on the beach and just breathe. That is where I find my stillness. It even helped me through a CT scan in the hospital.
Where do you find your calm honeys? How do you unplug from the world and rest? Til next time dear ones, smile lots and hug even more, hugs always x
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