The beginning of the week felt as though summer had arrived early, I was feeling optimistic about Saughton Park and how the session would go this week. Then the east wind came along, and it was chilly. I need not have been concerned because being in the glasshouse meant that it was very hot and fifty people gathered to sing and share stories.
At Ashbrook on Friday, we had twenty-six people which is the biggest ever turnout to a session.
Groups often move in cycles and when one group has a high attendance another has less at different times.
St Brides in recent weeks has been a little lower in attendance as one or two people are on holiday and a few people unwell.
We have a group at Stenhouse which never has any more than five people and it is such a meaningful group.
Our volunteer project and music therapy project each are aimed at delivering sessions with one person.
I suppose what I am trying to say is it is the quality of our relationships that matter. When the relationships are authentic then the interactive experience and the numbers take care of themselves. It is people that matter and not numbers.
At a session yesterday someone said to me “thank you for involving us”. It could have been seen as a throw away remark at the end of a session. However, I took that comment and reflected on the session to see where we had enabled participation, and active listening had taken place. This means that next time I am aware of what worked and what didn’t.
Empathy is all about using our own experiences to understand the world of other people. Understanding our own emotional responses to situations and using them to identify with the world that others experience. I have never been given a diagnosis or lived with dementia, but I have been given news that has changed my life, turned my world upside down. I remember how it made me feel and what my responses were.
This all means that without each one of us the world cannot reach its full potential and without each person being valued for who they are there will always be more to learn.
As Louis Armstrong once sang “What a Wonderful World” and I can hear my friend Peter singing “Oh Yeah”.
Have a wonderful week.