Loneliness and an idea

PatientGrandson

PatientGrandson

New Member
Hi, everyone - I hope the very end of this horrible year is treating you kindly :)

Loneliness -- or how to reduce it -- is something I care about. It's a pandemic under the pandemic, and causes so much suffering.

I think the way you start your day - the very first minutes after you wake up - can really set the tone for the rest of the day.

So I have an idea that might not solve anything, but might help people start their day on the right foot.

The idea is a wake-up call service. Every morning, you'd get a phone call with a positive voice message from a random person. Something encouraging, something kind, a funny story... it would vary.

You wouldn't be connected to talk to this person, but you'd have the option to leave your own kind message that could then be used to wake up other people.

My hope with such a service would be to help make sure the first few minutes of your day include some kindness, positivity, and encouragement.

I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts about this. No need to be overly polite - if it's a bad idea, it's a bad idea. Just curious what people think.

Thanks, everyone!
 

Wouldn't work for me. One of the few pandemic "benefits" I can think of is the lack of wake-up calls, alarms ringing, all that jazz. Sometimes I just like to sleep late; why not? I'm not on a timetable, and rarely have any reason to get up at a given hour, except the occasional medical appointment, something like that. But I mostly make those in the afternoon, if I have a choice.

For those who do want/need a wakeup service, it sounds like a nice idea... provided the wakeup messages are really kind, supportive, inspiring, etc., and not just irritating.
 
I think that you are on the right track but I would rather have a minute or two of conversation with someone.

Maybe a calling tree from a church or local organization where everyone receives and makes one call each day as they work through the list.

Another simple wellness check for folks that live in apartment buildings is a door hanger similar to the ones used in hotels.

good-morning-door-hang-tag-tg-2134_pl.png


At a certain time each afternoon/evening the occupant flips the tag to a night message and by a certain time each day, they flip it to a day message. A volunteer makes the rounds and checks on any resident that hasn't flipped the tag.
 

Last edited:
PatientGrandson said:
Every morning, you'd get a phone call with a positive voice message from a random person. Something encouraging, something kind, a funny story... it would vary.
Click to expand...
As long as it was just a message and not a live call requiring a response that sounds like a nice idea (assuming one can control the timing of the call). I know I have spent a ridiculous amount of time picking out the ring song of my alarm app, it does make a difference to start to a good energizing beat instead of a grating blare.
At work my employer gave us an option to have twelve phone sessions talking with a counselor. I didn't think it would be of much value (I am an introvert and LOVE working from home so Covid has been nice to me in that respect) and only signed up because participation counted toward getting a $25 bonus in my paycheck. But, it was really an enjoyable experience to chat every couple weeks with the counselor. We could pick any topic and switch topics so it was just real nice, especially when there was all the election stress and she talked about knowing ones own values and accepting the limited control we have on some things versus other aspects of our lives, and sort of participating with a certain amount of emotional distancing. I only wish I was better at that. She kind of reminded me of that Sadhguru yogi on YouTube.
 
Sunny said:
Wouldn't work for me. One of the few pandemic "benefits" I can think of is the lack of wake-up calls, alarms ringing, all that jazz. Sometimes I just like to sleep late; why not? I'm not on a timetable, and rarely have any reason to get up at a given hour, except the occasional medical appointment, something like that. But I mostly make those in the afternoon, if I have a choice.

For those who do want/need a wakeup service, it sounds like a nice idea... provided the wakeup messages are really kind, supportive, inspiring, etc., and not just irritating.
Click to expand...
I agree. Since I am retired, I like the luxury of running my day as I want to, including when I get up. I'm also not really a morning person and consider early morning phone calls to be a huge irritant.
 
If it was someone I know, then I wouldn't mind them calling to check on me because I would know they care. But, someone I don't know and they call, that would tell me they are doing it because "they have to". That's what I do not want!
 
PatientGrandson said:
Hi, everyone - I hope the very end of this horrible year is treating you kindly :)

Loneliness -- or how to reduce it -- is something I care about. It's a pandemic under the pandemic, and causes so much suffering.

I think the way you start your day - the very first minutes after you wake up - can really set the tone for the rest of the day.

So I have an idea that might not solve anything, but might help people start their day on the right foot.

The idea is a wake-up call service. Every morning, you'd get a phone call with a positive voice message from a random person. Something encouraging, something kind, a funny story... it would vary.

You wouldn't be connected to talk to this person, but you'd have the option to leave your own kind message that could then be used to wake up other people.

My hope with such a service would be to help make sure the first few minutes of your day include some kindness, positivity, and encouragement.

I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts about this. No need to be overly polite - if it's a bad idea, it's a bad idea. Just curious what people think.

Thanks, everyone!
Click to expand...
Because I am naturally skeptical of posts that sound suspiciously like they will end up trying to sell something, I trust that you are actually a "SENIOR" and that you will participate in other discussions on the forum.

That said, I have zero interest in any phone call interrupting my day to leave some happy-assed recorded "message" that isn't even a real person I could interact with. I can turn on the TV if I want to hear pie in the sky.
 
HoneyNut said:
As long as it was just a message and not a live call requiring a response that sounds like a nice idea (assuming one can control the timing of the call). I know I have spent a ridiculous amount of time picking out the ring song of my alarm app, it does make a difference to start to a good energizing beat instead of a grating blare.
At work my employer gave us an option to have twelve phone sessions talking with a counselor. I didn't think it would be of much value (I am an introvert and LOVE working from home so Covid has been nice to me in that respect) and only signed up because participation counted toward getting a $25 bonus in my paycheck. But, it was really an enjoyable experience to chat every couple weeks with the counselor. We could pick any topic and switch topics so it was just real nice, especially when there was all the election stress and she talked about knowing ones own values and accepting the limited control we have on some things versus other aspects of our lives, and sort of participating with a certain amount of emotional distancing. I only wish I was better at that. She kind of reminded me of that Sadhguru yogi on YouTube.
Click to expand...
we are offered 3 counseling sessions a yr. i have yet to do one. i've considered it as of late.
 


Back
Top