Today, I was feeling brain drained and not up to writing a blog, until I found the following responses sent to me by someone I have met who works in aged and dementia care.
I have kept up with your ordeals of late and also read Jane Sherwin’s response in congratulating you for speaking out about the system and the good people caught in it, staff and residents. You are writing a living legacy for us Kate which can either kick us in the bum into action or give us a few moments of feeling uncomfortable and conveniently leave it behind and move on without changing anything, it will depend on our consciences. The more you say the less we can leave it behind, go girl! VS
You’ve motivated me to keep trying to make a positive difference in the lives of people living with dementia, especially to be treated as full citizens and human beings throughout their lives. VS
If this doesn’t inspire me to write something today, then I guess it might be time to give up! I had no idea what to say for this blog and no amount of thinking is allowing me to finish any of the draft blogs I have on file, but I’ll give it a go anyway. The issue of what to write is a regular one, and unlike a journalist who is looking for their particular brand of news or story, blogging is different as there are no boundaries other than the ones placed on ourselves by ourselves. We have no editors telling us what to write or what not to write, and constantly have to negotiate our way through the maze of ideas and genres, hoping they will make sense. If we have a known audience, then we also worry that someone might actually enjoy reading them. Even though when I started blogging I was not thinking about having an audience but writing for myself; now that I have one, it adds a certain amount of pressure to perform or create. Writing on topics other than dementia is difficult, because it colours my world so much, and so I worry about writing about that too much. For me, the need to stay focused on my own goals is the hardest of all, as I have always wanted to consider others, previously putting them ahead of myself. Someone said yesterday, your blog readers must need the occasional light relief, a topic other than dementia, and I’m sure that’s very true; hopefully my occasional non dementia blogs are enough of a light relief.
Ps. Thanks VS
you continue to overwhelm me with your genorsity of appreciation, when it should be us showing you our appreciation for what you are doing. We, or I probably should say I get self conscious replying to your blogs as I know others read them, I can only imagine how you feel with the pressure you have put on yourself to write one everyday and then the thought of oh soooo many people reading them. After what you’ve been through with your trip away, taking you out of your familiar world and causing those ‘dementia meltdowns’ maybe you can allow yourself to write whatever your brain is saying, whether it’s dementia related or not. A description of a beautiful scene as seen by you could be healing for us all.
See you tomorrow
Love VS
LikeLike