MYLDN 1855

All photographs this week are taken of people I encountered within a 100 yards of my home. When you are mostly housebound you are starved of human contact. It is a very solitary existence but I am incredibly lucky as know a lot of the people on my street to say hello to and some to have a lil stop and chat with.

And so even though I was often only able to get to the end of the road and back I would more times than not see someone I could interact with, even in the smallest of ways. Didn’t have to be long. Didn’t have to be meaningful but it meant a lot to me. And it was great just to hear someone’s voice that wasn’t my own. My experience has meant that I have become very comfortable talking to myself but its a poor substitute for an actual dialogue with another human being. And it’s also a little disconcerting.

So these brief encounters with my neighbours became my lifeline and am truly grateful for I think I would have gone a little insane without them. Obviously fessing up to talking to myself all the time doesn’t really lend much support to that theory but there you go.

In a recent study on loneliness they discovered that it wasn’t just our strong relations with immediate family and close friends that mattered to our well being but also what they called our weak connections. These are small interactions you have with neighbours, passersby, local store workers and park people if you have a dog and apparently they are as vital as we are social animals who need to feel part of a group. They might seem slight but they make a big difference.

For me they were a godsend because I was not well enough to have people visit for the most part and I also couldn’t really handle talking for more than a couple of minutes. And weirdly being alone for vast quantities of time hasn’t made me less social, it has made me even more so. I always enjoyed talking to people but I would now literally chat to anyone because I have been so deprived. I obviously had Mrs B who I could never have got thru this without her but invariably by the time she got home I was toast and couldn’t even talk so am so thankful for my weak connections as they gave me strength when I needed it the most…

The top photo is Phil who lives two doors down from us and he is a lovely man who is always pottering around on the street so see him more than most so was always appreciative of our lil chats on the stoop as was often the only contact I had. And for the record the other people this week I do not know and did not speak to. They were merely passing. As was I.

So much for pictures only to ease meself in..I was just excited to be back :)