2019 has not been 'all sunshine and roses' for me and I have felt quite down and hopeless at times. Now, I know from experience that when I feel that way it is time to DO SOMETHING different to give my life a fresh perspective. With that in mind I decided to look online to see if I might find anything 'going on' in my local area that might suit me? It wasn't long before I found the Arts On Prescription website www.artsonprescription.org and saw that there was a free 'Creative Writing' session coming up shortly! Well, as writing is 'right up my street' I thought that such a session would be a good way of 'testing the water' in order to see if the whole set up was 'my scene'.
As the old saying goes, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' and after contacting, Tara Ready - the lady who runs the sessions it wasn't long before I had booked my place on the writing session and had it to look forward to! When you are lonely you need 'something to look forward to' and so its always a good idea to 'line a few things up on the calendar' to keep you going.
Well, the time eventually came for the day of the session and so I went along to see how it went? Tara is lovely, warm, friendly and welcoming and as the session (usually 2 hours long) wore on I began to feel at home and started to get talking to some of the other people there. One really nice chap who is known by the group as 'Jeff' let me into the secret that he is really SANTA and me being a Christmas nut we had a lovely conversation swapping stories about our adventures at Christmas time! I liked 'Jeff' so much in fact that I gave him a complimentary copy of my 'Timeless' CD and told him to 'have a listen to 'The Toy Museum' as being Santa I thought he'd appreciate it.
Well, I'm glad to say that 'Jeff' did have a listen to my album. Better still he told me today that he really liked it! He also proved that he really IS Santa - turning up (as you can see here) in full robes and boots! I happened to go as an Elf 'for a bit of jolly' and one of the ladies present ( THANK YOU, Mandy!) thought we looked like a team and took the photo you see here! Santa was in his element throughout the morning telling us all a few festive tales and dishing out presents! I helped him with that to make sure that everyone present got something and both of us joined in with the carol singing as well - though I think both Santa and I prefer the sound of other voices at this time of year. It's kind of nice to listen to other people singing Christmas carols etc because that way you get a real sense of belonging and feel for a short time at least that you are all 'singing from the same hymn sheet' and celebrating the same thing for once!
Such 'togetherness' is sadly in VERY short reply these days and so Christmas needs to play its part ever more to calm the world down a bit and get us all thinking of others and not just our own needs and wants...
If you are interested in finding our more about Arts On Prescription you can either contact Tara through the website or see your GP and ask to be referred. You don't have to be 'ill' and you can do what I have done and refer yourself so there is no pressure! Go on! Give it a try! No good staring at four walls - I know! (lol)
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