Page 33 - seniors today november 2020
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listen to music, paint, cook, dabble in pottery,   on coffee tables, dressers, and nightstands.”
         do zentangles, make collages. An added              We are fortunate to live in an age where
         benefit-“The key to staying sharp in old age       most of us can text, email and video chat
         is in your fingers. From your fingers to your      to connect with family and friends. Social
         brain, and back again.”                            media is often the villain in the story of
          Confined at home, it is books that give us        life. While excessive use and mindless
         places to go when we have to stay where we         suffering does cause harm, recent research
         are.                                               says that when people spend their time
          At a very young age I learnt that books are       online communicating with people with
         lifelines against the churning seas of modern      whom they already have strong ties, it
         life, they are “invisible noise cancelling         reduces depression and loneliness. In this
         curtains” behind which we nestle cozily into       Covid-infested world, it is hard to imagine
         a world of imagination and possibilities.          life without online classes and courses,
         One of the greatest gifts that I ever received     webinars. One of the many things that I
         growing up, from my parents and some               have learned at this time is how creative
         very enlightened teachers, was a love for          people have been, in order to stay connected
         reading. Words weave magic and books are           with others. Zoom counseling and coaching
         magicians that transport us to lands both          sessions, online schooling, virtual happy
         real and imagined, magic potions which             hours, and girls’ night out - all happens
         make our world colourful and exciting;             on chat platforms. Lockdown and social
         something interests us in a book and that          distancing- new words in our vocabulary
         leads to another book; it is a journey with        and lives - have not been without challenges.
         no end in sight - on which we discover             Social media is an immediate outlet for
         strange and new things, characters who fill        creative expression. With Instagram,
         us with wonder, and ideas that make us look        Facebook Twitter, entrepreneurs conduct
         the world with fresh eyes. Therefore, read         online businesses, artists, poets and fashion
         widely; always have a “to-read” list on the go.    designers tantalise would-be buyers with
         “Let books flood your home and wash ashore         their creations, and social and community
                                                            causes are highlighted, inspiring others to
                                                            contribute and participate.
                                                             “Going through things you never thought
                                                            you’d go through, will only take you places
                                                            you never thought you’d get to.” The great
                                                            lessons of lockdown? Something to do,
                                                            something to love, and something to hope
                                                            for. Life is both a precious, unfathomably
                                                            beautiful gift filled simultaneously with
                                                            heartbreaking sweetness and beauty,
                                                            desperate poverty, viruses and sunsets and
                                                            music, all swirled together, and there are a
                                                            thousand beautiful moments waiting for
                                                            us after this whirlwind of dark clouds and
                                                            storm.


        SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #17 | NOVEMBER 2020                                                           33
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