Doing good :)

Aw the spring is in the air. We're seeing the ground, hearing more songbirds again and smelling a particular moist spring scent in the air. All with the longer days make for time of rejuvenation and rebirth, yay!

Some of you avid gardeners have been actively looking for your organic & heirloom seeds as you dream of the day that they can finally go outside. I don't know about where you live but our local libraries now offer a seed-exchange. They have available organic & heirloom seeds. The idea is that at the end of your harvest, you return some seeds of your own that you have saved, back to the library for others to enjoy :)

If you don't currently have such an offering at your local library, perhaps you can consider starting your own. That's how ours started :)

Seasoned gardeners know that plants provide us with much higher return on our investment than any stock in the history of the stock market on any exchange. Oh and in only a few short months.

One seeds goes in and hundreds or even thousands come out, yay!

So that's doing good by not supporting the Monsantos, GMOs, terminator-seeds & pesticides that effect all beings.

But today I wanted to talk about doing more good of a different kind(pun intended).

Recently I heard about just how lonely some people are even in the big cities. The number is many multiples more when it comes to our seniors. So much so that in England they now have a new ministry that has "Loneliness" in it's title.

Of course we've known about this for thousands of years, only historically, loneliness was only associated with rural or farming communities where one's nearest neighbours were kilometres away and not city dwellers who are often only separated by a wall.

But while more mobile demographics can still find a group to join or activity to attend with others, however challenging, the less mobile demographic is mostly confined to their apartments.

Imagine after a lifetime of being active, mobile and a productive life, all of the sudden you find yourself alone. With the kids now gone and busy with their own kids, and perhaps even having lost your lifelong partner or friends of many years, no valid driver's licence, etc.

What do you do? What can you do all day?

In many older cultures, elders are much revered and their wisdom respected. I know that we are all conditioned to lead busy lives, running around doing I don't know what to keep-up with whatever or whomever.

I wonder if we can set aside a bit of time to check-in on our elderly. They probably don't need much more than even a phone call. Of course they would much prefer to see some young faces, energy, life,...to share stories with or perhaps a trip to the grocery store.

You know, we all need a change from our surroundings or in their case, sometimes a single room.

I've been doing that. You know, calling, chatting, helping out with chores. Not just because I'm starting to get old/er and starting to see things from their perspectives but because ever-since I was a little boy, I loved hearing the elder's stories, reminiscing of the time of old, plus they were always so kind to me.

Some of you know about my three antique shops while I was in between schools. I never made any money but I did get to meet a few amazing old folks with their stories.

I love preserving history!

A few years later when digital videography came out, I started recording folk's stories in a sort of "life & times" documentaries.

So visiting, talking and paying a bit more attention to our elderly may be easier for me and I only hope that if I ever reach that demographic, I'm not left all alone in my room and that someone will see my stories, life experiences and lessons as something worth exploring and help me with not being lonely.

Namaste