At my house there is a grandfather clock, which I love, it chimes four times an hour. Guests often comment about how in the world we tolerate the constant noise, but as anyone with a chiming clock or close to railroad tracks can attest, we do not always hear it. If I am sitting quietly in the living room, I can sometimes notice the chiming. Otherwise, it fades to the background. Unless of course I have a living room full of ladies for book club, it which case I heard all 8 interruptions and was wishing I had planned ahead to let it wind down. I think this happens in lots of ways in our day to day lives, in our communities and in our homes. Some things fade to the background or become so normal that we don’t always notice. This could be the beautiful things around us, or some of the harsher realities as people struggle and face hardship. Part of being in community is trying to adjust our attention to notice it all. Notice where you might fit in, help, create something new or just be present with others. At Community Living we can understand that everyone is busy with their own work and worry. We try to make new connections and promote inclusion, but we also have to honour what else is grabbing the attention of neighbours and groups. We recently had a person we support be diagnosed with a complex medical condition. One of the worries that our staff had was if the person should move closer to a hospital equipped to respond to this condition in the city. The specialist was quick to respond that the loss of one’s community and social network would be for more detrimental to health than the distance from specialized medical support. Let that sink in for a moment, we are better when connected to others in our communities, we are healthier and it is more critical to our well-being than we can imagine. I love my grandfather clock because it grounds me in the present, it is visually pleasant to look at and it was a childhood dream of mine to someday own one. I may not hear it when I don’t pay attention, but when I do it always lifts my spirits. Seek out what lifts your spirits. There is so much going on in the background and all around us, take some time today to notice Haliburton, the people, the connectors, the contributors, the neighbourhood champions, the leaders, the businesses, the people all around. Make time for attention to all that is here, all that is available, our health is better for it.
