This week is Loneliness Awareness Week.
LAW was created by the Bristol based charity https://www.marmaladetrust.org/ and has gained recognition over the last few years, in the UK and beyond, with many organisations coming together to highlight the issue of loneliness, and to get everyone talking about it.
Often starting up a conversation about loneliness can allow people to tell others that they have felt lonely, often the most unexpected people can feel alone.
As human beings we need to connect with others.
As society changes we need to be proactive, that chat with the friendly cashier in the supermarket, has become more difficult to find as people are replaced by scanners and machines. That conversation at the till may well be the only conversation someone will have had for days.
If we are together we can feel less lonely.
All of us will feel lonely at sometime in our lives, age is no barrier, any age can feel lonely, loneliness may occur after a family relationship breakdown, after a bereavement, or you might move to a new area, becoming a new parent can be a lonely place as well. Perhaps in your workplace you could feel lonely, many more people are now working from home which can also be a trigger.
By having that conversation we can take steps to make us feel better, it is something we can do something about.
Find a trusted person and tell them how you are feeling, think about the things you can do to start connecting with others.
Being an unjustified estranged grandparent is a very lonely place to be, but by meeting up with others who fully understand can ease those feelings, being together, talking to each other and by supporting others can be empowering.
Reaching out is the first step to address loneliness.
We all must make time to speak to others, our neighbours, our workmates etc your ‘Good Morning’ to a stranger could be a lifeline to someone and actually when that stranger reciprocates it makes you feel good about yourself as well, so it’s a win, win.
