Busy, Bored, Lonely
I know of three young women who meet by phone each week because they are lonely where they live. I have several friends who find themselves experiencing boredom and needing more friend time. One of the sales clerks at my local grocery store started working there in her retirement because she was bored and lonely. I know of many older adults who are bored and lonely. I have experienced a bit of boredom and loneliness too. It is interesting how closely these two feelings live to one another.
The young women I mentioned are also extremely busy. My working neighbors are extremely busy. Most of the young families I know are extremely busy. Some days at least, I am extremely busy, more busy and more lonely that at any other time in my life.
There are a lot of questions I have because I don’t fully understand what is going on. When did things change because I don’t remember feeling like this before? Maybe it is my age and maybe I encounter too small a sampling of people, but in my segment of this world busyness, boredom and loneliness have become overgrown trees in a forest of life.
It is not like me to just sit still when I see something, my nature is to jump in and deal with things so…I started opening my home intentionally to a small group of women a few times a month. I thought that if I was experiencing these feelings, maybe others were too. Turns out that was true. Even though it costs us all some time, it has been a sweet and refreshing time of connection for each of us. (Some of our hands are shown in the photo above.)
Strange as it seems, adding something to my schedule has made room in my schedule for other things. I think it is because I feel more energized by intentionally connecting with friends. I am pretty sure that I was spending too much time on electronics and not enough time with people. I didn’t even realize it was happening.
I certainly don’t have things figured out, but can recognize how much it has helped me to open up to others and be honest about what I am experiencing. In some ways I feel like I am waking up from some kind of dream as I intentionally build connections with other people.
If you identify with any of the feelings I have shared, may I encourage you to become an initiator in your sphere of influence. It is certainly easier for someone else to do the inviting, but if no one does, allow yourself to become the someone. You may find that opening the doors of your schedule to others enriches your life in new ways. At least doing so has enriched mine.
May opening your schedule enrich your life!