While I may think that people are talking more, it turns out that we are losing our words at an alarming rate. That was according to a researcher interviewed on the CBC Brent Bambury's Day 6 radio show yesterday morning. We're losing 338 spoken words every day. Between 2005 and 2019 there was a 28 per cent decline in spoken words. That's 120,000 words per person on a yearly basis.
So what makes me think that I hear people nattering away more and more? Maybe I am in the company of older people.
This is part of the psychology of older adults who do a lot of reminiscing and moralizing. This is considered a complex blend of developmental, emotional, and cognitive needs. Not mere nostalgia but an active, functional, and deeply rooted psychological process designed to bring meaning, coherence, and comfort to the later stages of life.
Those are the positives and then the negatives such as being on the receiving end of often repeated stories and themes. Particularly now, older people want to control the fast-changing social and technological narrative that is becoming unfamiliar and even foreign.
I've been listening to many people since we got Millie. I take Millie to the Watering Can and Michaels on Saturdays. She has a great affinity for people and is extremely social with them. People tell me of their current dogs, and in the case of older people, they reminisce on those pets who have passed on. Millie gets pets and hugs, and snuggles into their legs like she's known them "since forever." This snuggling is her forte.
This instant emotional bonding was apparent when we made our first therapy visit to Albright Long-Term Care in Beamsville. Millie has a cute factor that evokes little squeals of pleasure from even the oldest resident or most sophisticated-looking staff member. She bonds immediately with everyone.
And that seems to be the benefit of bringing therapy dogs to facilities rather than humans visiting humans. Dogs don't need to "get to know us" to enjoy us right away. And conversation? Human conversation can move quickly into general reminiscing and then descend into moralizing - asserting values, validating choices, and wanting to give advice based on the wisdom of the years lived. There's no point doing this with dogs. Dogs either don't have any capacity to gain from moral teachings and wisdom, or don't have the interest. Training Millie to come when called or to not bark falls into the second category. That's what makes me distinguish the two.
So a possible conclusion is that older people should have a pet. And the alternative is to give them access to enjoy one on a regular basis. Hence Millie's new adventures.
You've seen this picture before. It continues my own reminiscing of neighbourhoods from times gone-by. I am not alone in finding pleasure in nostalgia, as this is one of the most-looked at pictures on my Fine Art America website - 8,000 views. And then this location is a nostalgia seekers paradise. This is Niagara-on-the-Lake.
No comments:
Post a Comment