Life is like that: staving off dementia

~ Roger JG Albert

I haven’t posted on this site for some time because my life has taken me into other directions for a time now.  For instance, I’ve had physical injuries to consider and pain is my constant reminder of my humanity.  It also limits my mobility since some of the pain I’m experiencing is in my right knee.  The pain makes it difficult for me to walk any distance.  I also tore a rotator cuff and that’s a bummer.  Still waiting to see an orthopaedic surgeon on that one.  Yet, I’m happy to report, things are improving. The pain is becoming manageable and I’m taking fewer meds than I have been.  I’m trying to cut out some of my meds altogether but I’m no martyr so if the pain gets intense again, I’ll be right back there gobbling pills.  I’ve tried physiotherapy – different kinds – but the pain is not from muscular injury but rather from connective tissue damage so working on my muscles has limited effect, at least that’s what I think.  Besides, all that stuff is expensive and I don’t have a limitless pot of money to play with.  Still, things are moving along.

I’ve been able to help Carolyn in the yard putting railings on the stairs, etc., in preparation for the garden show we were featured in this past July 27th.  I love my woodworking shop and have been spending lots of time in there. The garden show was fun, but leading up to it was hard work and required lots of meds and rest times for me to carry on.  Maybe I’ll post pictures here soon of what we’ve been doing. Strangely, I’ve been indifferent towards painting and drawing recently although I’m now feeling the stirrings and I’ve picked up the coloured pencils again.  I have a painting that needs finishing. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and planning how to tackle the next set of challenges with it, but I have time coming up so I’ll get back to it soon.  Doing portraits for some people is easy but I have to work at it.  That’s part of the fun of it.  I’m also working up to doing some sculpture in wood.  I need to get my tools sharpened and that in itself is a challenge.  I need to get lessons on how to do that quickly and easily.

All this to say I haven’t been spending a lot of time posting on this blog.  I have been thinking about what I want to do with the blog, but I have lots of doubt whether or not any of this is worth anything.  It’s not as if I have nothing to say, it’s whether anyone is listening that is the issue and what difference it might make one way or another.  It may be that I use this blog to work out issues I’m thinking about with regard to politics, social action, evolution, economics and such things just for the challenge of getting my ideas straight. It might just help stave off dementia as I get older.  At least that’s what I want to believe.

9 thoughts on “Life is like that: staving off dementia”

  1. Well I for one like to read your blogs because I know how difficult meaningful writing can be. I also find that periods of creative dryness can happen to anyone and in any endeavour. Perhaps it’s our brains way of recharging the creative process by putting the brakes on projects so that we can focus on other things important in our lives. My wife, family, friends, ecology, community, faith, health are but a few that jump in and out of my life on a regular basis and need tending to just as much as the creative side. Don’t stop writing Roger because it’s a talent for which you have much skill and I believe that others benefit from reading your thoughts and admire your courage for putting ideas to word.

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    1. I won’t stop writing, Dan, but my expectations about writing are undergoing change. I feel less pressure now than I did before. Any pressure I felt before was self-inflicted, of course. I know that. Now, I’m trying a new tactic, but I don’t expect it to change my style much or the topics I address. I did shut down my homelessness blog but that’s a decision I made because I think we need collective rather than individualized approaches to the issue. I’ll still write on the topic of homelessness but on my remaining blog.

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  3. You may not think there is anyone who is listening but once you put anything on the internet it is out there for as long as the internet is around. Think of it like the first radio signals…if you go out far enough you can still listen to it. Who knows….. maybe in 10 years someone will stumble across your blog and become inspired to change the world as we know it. Keep your chin up and blog on…. someone out there IS listening. Micheal (nephew of Marilyn Crosbie)

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    1. Hi Michael,
      I don’t plan on quitting writing although sometimes I do feel I’m communication just with myself and maybe your aunt and a few others. I have nearly 9,000 hits on my blog since I started it after my retirement from teaching 3 years ago but I hardly ever get any comments. A few people comment but it’s not as if I have a huge following. Out of respect for the people that do follow my work, I will continue to write, but I think I’ll organize my posts differently.
      At least I’ll try to maintain certain threads more consistently and coherently. If you look through the archives on my site you’ll see posts on a myriad of topics. I’m still very much interested in those topics and will continue to pursue many of them. If you get a chance you might want to read a book called Escape From Evil by Ernest Becker. It contains many elements of thought I’ve pursued over the years. I have commented on it extensively on my blog. I think it would be worth it for me to post my all time favourite reading list. I started to do that a few times but never really nailed it down.

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  4. Roger, I have found that out of the population as a whole, consistent writers are few and fair between. And commenters seems to be fewer, unless it’s commenting on some inane Facebook joke or something of that type. It’s an eye-opener to us for sure. When I sent frequent letters to the North Island Gazette (once I got up the courage and got into the swing of it) I found that I was on a very few in that part of the country to wrote to the editor. I though that this was because many of these people had no postsecondary education, and that had to be a factor, but even in the larger area of the Comox Valley and Campbell River, not many people seem to write to newspaper editors or reply to blogs. Perhaps if you really worked to connect your blogger to the larger population (don’t ask me how to do this, as I haven’t really tried it myself) you would receive more feedback.

    I wonder, too, if your articles are considered academic and that might narrow the reading/responding audience.

    I really don’t think it’s that people don’t READ your posts though, it’s more that they are not sure what to say in reply or how to articulate what they might wish to write.

    Michael wrote a poem I like:

    Confession of a Writer:

    Do I write for my country
    Or write for a friend?
    Do I write for my family
    Or the school at Southend?*

    Do I write for the laity
    Or write for the glory?
    Do I write for the clergy
    Or just to tell a story?

    Do I write for the paper
    Or for Time Magazine
    Do I write because I have to
    Or for food and margarine?

    Do I write for my family to posture the name?
    No…..
    I write about anything
    No matter how lame or tame;
    The blame – writings my game.

    For what the above is worth.

    *Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England.

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    1. Thanks for this, Marilyn. Writing is enigmatic for me. Always has been, but I’ll carry on. I have a hard time not being a little ‘academic’ or scholarly, especially given some of the topics I tackle. Norbert Elias is a wonderful sociologist but hard to ‘translate’ into simple language. Still, I think it’s worth trying.

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