Good morning – Keeping in touch

One of the strategies that ADS has put in place within the team as a means of keeping in touch socially is a regular ‘Good morning’ email. Every day, members of the ADS team volunteer to write and send out an email to the rest of the group about whatever topic takes their fancy. It can be a good news story (Professor Dawn Brooker being awarded an MBE), sharing a problem or whatever they’re struggling with at the time, or random topics that have no relation to work (the latest escapades of pets, favourite songs, reminiscing about holidays – remember those!?). It’s a real mix, and there’s no way to predict what’s coming next.

It’s not a particularly amazing or innovative idea, they’re just a nice way to get a feel for how people are, and get the working day off to a good start – sometimes with a smile, occasionally with a tear, and often sparking a chain of thought that can lead to who knows where! If you’re part of a team working remotely it might be a nice idea to considering implementing.

As these emails were written for the team and never intended to be shared more widely, we’re unable to give specific details about them. However, a recent message that we do have permission to share is a poem written by one of the team. It started out as a badly-written spoof, but ended up being slightly more poignant than expected. We hope you can enjoy it on some level:

Ode to my living room

Thank you to my living room

For being my constant companion

A multi-purpose space for the past ten months

Helping to keep me sane(-ish)

–

You are a gym

Complete with yoga mats

Witnessing our morning workouts

And attempts to do the splits

–

You are an office

Housing a desk where I spend most of my day

Staring at a screen, connected yet apart

Too quiet at times

–

You are a dining room

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Eaten from plates

Balanced on knees

–

You are a dance floor

As we practice steps learnt long ago

In preparation for future days

When we can dance with others again

–

You are a hobby room

Balls of wool strewn over the sofa

And a stack of books in the corner

Waiting to be read

–

You transform in different seasons

Resplendent with a twinkling tree at Christmas

Slightly too hot in full summer sun

Chilly during the winter months

–

Redecorating in 2019 paid off

Making you a nicer place to be

And providing a better background

For multiple Zoom meetings

–

So thank you to my living room

But I’m starting to get sick of you

A change of scenery would be nice

And I don’t mean a trip to the kitchen

–

You are my living room, truly a room for living

Connect with ADS on twitter @DementiaStudies and on Facebook @adsuow