The Return of Dreams
I am happy to report that although I lost the ability to remember my dreams, they started coming back slowly three years after my injury back in 2016. Only recently though, have they appeared in full technicolour. Today I had a vivid dream which I will tell you about. I was with my boyfriend at his dad’s place which was in Sheffield. They were in bed but for some reason, I was standing in the lounge and suddenly I noticed a robber climbing in through the window. I raised the alarm and the men came racing downstairs to see what all the noise was about. As they burst through the door and asked what was wrong, I turned and….. there was no robber. They told me not to worry, there was nothing to be alarmed about. I know there are ways to interpret dreams, but I haven’t worked out why I had this dream yet and hope it’s not a premonition, haha. I think it’s a good sign that I’m having more colourful dreams again though.
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night when I’ve had one of these dreams and can’t get back to sleep. I have started to get my notebook out and I write things down which I can include in this blog. I believe dreaming might be helping fire up my neural pathways and making my brain more active, which can only be a good thing, even if I do lose a bit of sleep. Maybe I should write a dissertation about it…sounds very sciencey!
Keeping the place tidy
In Blog 3 I explained about the step-by-step procedure I go through to ensure I don’t forget to take anything I need before I leave the house. This time I will show you how I organise my home so that everything is always to hand when I need it.
It may look cluttered to you, but if I keep each of my toiletries in the same place in the row on the bathroom shelf, then I can easily grab them when needed. Due to my only having half sight, it’s difficult to see at a glance as things are out of range on the right hand side of my vision. It lessens the anxiety I can feel when I lose things and I’m in a hurry to get ready to go out. For this reason I also tend to keep the rest of my home clutter free and also it helps prevent tripping hazards which can happen if the floor is not clear and I do not always see things that are on the periphery of my vision.
Being part of the community again
Between 2016-2019 I was working at The Volunteer Centre in Hackney. My boss Lauren Tobias gave me the position of matching the Volunteers’ skills to those in need in the community. This could be anything from organising them a friendship companion, to finding someone to help them with their gardening. Initially they sat me down at a computer to connect people together, but quickly realised that my loss of sight meant they would have to find another way for me to reach out. We decided that I was quite confident on the telephone and came across well. I was teamed up with a male volunteer working by my side, and together we contacted lots of people.
I was also invited to go to schools and promote the Hackney Volunteer Centre there. During the two years that I worked there and I like to think we brought a ray of light into their world.
Eventually I took part in the outbound activities too.
Volunteer of the Year
Quite by surprise one year, I was awarded ‘Volunteer of The Year’ by the Mayor of London. I was invited to attend the ceremony at his City Office which used to be on South Bank in Southwark. It’s a very unusual building with a winding ramp which wraps itself around the glass walls, leading down to the auditorium. I understand they have now moved to The Crystal in Newham, but I’m glad I got the opportunity to go there as it was a fun experience.
Mindfulness
The purpose of mindfulness is to take you out of autopilot. Instead of doing things unconsciously, you stop for that moment, take a deep breath and really think about what you are doing presently. It really helps me to be more aware to regain a sense of peace and calm again.
Short story: The route to recovery over a cuppa
Earlier I told you a little about the Volunteer Centre in Hackney, London during my early years of recovery.
I also volunteered with the Royal National Institute for the Blind aka RNIB. I found it so important to do this, both for myself and others, which is a great feeling. Let me tell you about one of my experiences with an older lady called Maria. She was going blind and we had arranged to meet for a coffee one afternoon for just an hour or so. At that time, I could hardly see and although I was in the right area of Hackney it was a struggle to see the street numbers. I always like to be on time or even a little early so that I am calm when I arrive and allow time for wandering around trying to find the right place.
When I arrived, Maria’s younger family were there to greet me and were so happy that I had to come to visit her. They are from Burma and are very lovely people, I learnt all about their culture and how they had to move to London after the war in Burma. Their story was fascinating. They explained that Maria was getting very bored and needed to socialise more. We made friends and I visited her again, but this time only Maria was at home. I attempted to make her a cup of tea in her kitchen to practise my skills, something she could no longer do herself as her sight was not good enough. I soon found out that it was more challenging for me that I realised. I didn’t know where anything was in someone else’s place and my stress levels were rising. It took me forever to orientate myself, but I tried to stay calm and pace myself. I’m not sure how warm that first cup of tea was, but she was very polite and didn’t complain. We just laughed it off and had a good natter.
When I look back now I can see all the small steps of progress I made and I know that Maria, although in her 90s, had unknowingly helped me as well, during the six months that I visited her.
Befriending
After these lovely experiences I came to realise how important befriending is. This is such an important thing to volunteer for. It helped me immensely in my own recovery and it kept me busy and focusing on others. People would ask me questions which helped stimulate my brain and I wondered if I should set my own befriended circle up, but then along came my role with Headway and this is something I am able to do every Tuesday morning at their coffee morning for their clients.
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