July 24, 2020 Bryan Schwartz

Tools for Freedom and Independence

Making Freedom Meaningful with Meaningful Mobility

I miss my visits to Seniors’ groups and nursing facilities. Hearing about their lives and helping them enjoy all of it they can. I also know that isolation and loneliness were already issues for concern in the communities that I serve, the disabled and elderly, before the Covid pandemic.
Now, with a near perpetual shutdown, whether at home or in a facility, seniors and others can feel locked in and locked up, and more deeply isolated. Not free and independent like we all want to be.
So, this Independence Day, let’s take a moment to remember those shut in, and do what we can to liberate them, and help them, safely, come back out into the wider world.

In this new world, what is independence?

What things can we do to get back some of that independence we once had?
One way to lift spirits and return a sense of adventure is increasing ones mobility.

Having some liberating, self-determined, meaningful mobility can be an important solution.

The removal of boundaries, which this can provide, may prove to be more meaningful than ever before.

At all stages of life “new wheels” have always been exciting: that new toy car, those first set of car keys, a shiny camper, a slick rollator, or a mobility scooter that can go the distance!

They all convey freedom.

When looking for new ways to overcome feelings of loneliness or lack, which COVD inevitably brings, you can find invigoration in a new ride.
Take a scooter trip to the park next door, or power your way over to the local restaurant. Not even a facility can prevent you from rolling off on an adventure. Many places are now open, and parks are always open. If visits to your neighbor are forbidden, take them along! And, of course, we encourage following all public health guidelines.

As you rekindle your shutdown sense of adventure, you can even add a little technology and form a MeetUp group, to plan outings with your community of friends?

Of course, with less than 9 participants, but that’s plenty!!

The Independence of having the ability to roll where you want to go, may be far more importance for our mental well-being, than we previously appreciated.
It breaks my heart to see seniors living in communities and at home going through such loneliness, so I wanted to share this one way they could escape the box and “hit the road again”.