I must say, I'm glad that the "festive" season is at an end. I rejoice for those that had a wonderful and fulfilling time, but for me it was a long, slow and unproductive vacuum. I hadn't realised how much I valued the interaction provided by video conferencing with my peers, carers and dementia professionals, and the mental stimulation I get from these meetings. I often wish that people reading my blogs (if indeed there's anyone still out there who is interested), would post something on the forum to get a chat going.
Life can be lonely.
Still. "Per ardua ad astra" as we used to say in the RAF... Through adversity to the stars; and enough of the introspection. It's time to get cracking and explore the road ahead rather than looking at life through the rear view mirror.
It is of course, impossible and unrealistic to attempt to map out my journey through the next year in too much detail, but I'm cautiously optimistic that I will be able to resume doing many of the things I did before "lockdown" by the summer. So here is my broad plan, distilled into a bulleted list...
I will make myself more available as a resource for anyone who needs someone with lived experience of dementia to help them campaign in any way whatsoever.
I will expand my list of contacts internationally, nationally and most importantly locally.
I will continue to blog as regularly as I am able about the things that interest me and touch my life.
I will be passionate, angry, elated, sad and amused about the things I am interested and involved in, but I will NEVER be cruel, contemptuous, half-hearted or afraid to speak my mind.
I will monitor my condition and report on it here and elsewhere in every intimate detail, no matter how personal or embarrassing, in order to give people insight into the peaks and troughs of a life with dementia.
Looking at the wish-list I have just written, I suppose it looks at first glance like a series of New Year's resolutions. I hadn't planned for this blog to be about such a maudlin topic, but what the heck. IMHO It's always good to have a general plan (but bad to stick to it inflexibly - situations change and re-assessment should always be an option). They're NOT "resolutions" though, they're aspirations. And there's a world of difference between the two ideas. What do you aspire to do in 2021 as the world shakes itself free of the pandemic?