16th July 2020

Isolated thoughts 2020 will be published every 2 weeks with a little help from the members. Send in your thoughts on what you are doing to be able to cope through these challenging times.

Loneliness can be damaging to both our mental and physical health. Socially isolated people are less able to deal with stressful situations. They’re also more likely to feel depressed and may have problems processing information. This in turn can lead to difficulties with decision-making and memory storage and recall. People who are lonely are also more susceptible to illness. Researchers found that a lonely person’s immune system responds differently to fighting viruses, making them more likely to develop an illness. People placed in isolation may also experience hallucinations. The lack of stimuli causes people to misattribute internal thoughts and feelings as occurring in the outer environment. Essentially, hallucinations happen because of a lack of brain stimulation. One of the reasons that living in isolation is difficult is because humans are social creatures. This is why Zoom presently is important to our daily lives.

MARY RENSHAW – WHAT ZOOM HAS MEANT TO HER.

“The session yesterday on using the Samsung Tablet, filling out the paperwork, and learning the new passwords, went very smoothly. Great information on how to use and download apps and we were also given the opportunity to join in a zoom class.  Great to see familiar faces and talk to them as if they were in the room.

Having this access, for me, will make my days go faster and enjoyable and especially the fact that it doesn’t seem so lonely. What a joy it is to have a loan of this Samsung Tablet. It will make my days go smoother and more enjoyable.”

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The Corona Blues!

Poem by Robyn Canning (©) 2020

I wrote this poem a month after the COVID 19 lockdown. I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions over those first few weeks and then with introducing fines for everyday activities; I was even more confused and overwhelmed. Poetry is a wonderful outlet for feelings, and this poem explains my reaction during that brief time in history!

Please let me out, I can’t take any more

I’ve cleaned and I’ve cooked and I re-mopped the floor!

I’ve tried all my hobbies and read all my books

I’ve meditated, exercised, and worked on my looks.

 

Nowhere to go, no one to see

Please let me out, I’m going crazy

Don’t go for a drive, don’t dawdle about

Stay at home, stay at home, stay at home, they shout

 

Please let me out, I’m having a tantrum

I feel like a child kicking and ranting

I want my life back, and I’ll cry if I want to

I need to escape from my cage in this zoo!

 

My senses are fading, I no longer feel

The black dog is nipping away at my heel

He’s forming a pack and they’re circling near

Please let me out so I’ve nothing to fear

 

I can’t reconcile my lawful self

When someone gets fined if they drive for their health

It’s illegal to sit in the park with a friend

My brain splits in two, so when will this end?

 

Nobody knows where, or when, or how

This road never travelled is where we go now

Its potholes seem deep and too many to dodge

We’re still in the rough, nowhere safe to lodge

 

I’ve now had my rant and feel a weight lifted

I’ll stay home, stay safe and do what’s permitted

I’ll self isolate and keep social distance

And try to stay sane with good-humoured resistance!

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Patrick has sent us a recipe to make our days more enjoyable. Maybe you have something special to share that will keep you occupied! Like to share your veggie garden! “Here’s something that I whipped up yesterday to keep me occupied during lockdown…”

Sausage Rolls Recipe

500g mince (you can use sausage meat however I can’t due to Margaret’s autoimmune condition)

1 onion diced finely (can also be grated)

Celery – 2 stalks diced finely*

Green Pepper* diced finely

Grated Carrot

1 egg, whisked with a generous squirt of tomato sauce and Worcestershire Sauce

Pepper to suit (no salt required as saltiness comes from the celery)

Breadcrumbs to aid in drying out the liquid.

* From our garden.

Puff pastry sheets, cut in half.

Tip: I use the same recipe to make hamburgers. A family favourite and very popular at BBQs. 

Sausage Rolls can be frozen. I store them with some wax proof paper between them to keep them separated… 

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NORMAL IN THE FUTURE

Many years ago when I was a teenager a wise older person who I greatly respected continually said to me “Nothing is so bad that it can’t get better” and “You are not alone”. Over the past few weeks, I have often reflected on these comments. I believe you will all agree that COVID-19 has not only caused us to stay at home, social distance, the shops to close, and Whittlesea U3A to suspend classes in classrooms but it has provided us with an unbelievable opportunity. Think of all the ingenious ways we as individuals have found to keep in touch with family and friends, learned how to use functions on your phones and computers you did not think existed. Who would have thought the use of ZOOM would have spread quicker than the COVID-19 virus? Don’t forget that it was our generation that invented and developed the technology the young ones today have mastered.

THE FUTURE NORMAL FOR Whittlesea U3A

Activities will be cover:

• Life-Long Learning
• Health and Wellbeing
• Hobbies, Craft, Art and Music
• Social
• Support members to use technology to connect with each, friends and family
• Face to Face Classes
• ZOOM Classes participate from home
• Members joining a face to face classes from home by ZOOM
• More small interest groups meeting by ZOOM and meeting in coffee shops to share their interests
• More Health and Wellbeing information sessions. 
• Glen Wall
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• Line Dancing at the Lakes 

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This was an event that Awhina started with just small groups on a Friday morning at mill Park Lakes.

We went along to a couple of the line dancing sessions being held at Mill Park Lakes so took some photos. I think Awhina Te Amo has been doing a magnificent job in keeping U3A People connected with these Line
Dancing sessions. As well as Line Dancing, there are other courses Choir, Cooking, Craft, and whatever else she has been keeping going through Zoom or just video link. 

Carol B