Human kidness and being a friend who listens but doesn't offer advice and helps people understand how they are feeling is often the best friend someone can ever have.
Especially when they don't judge and are supporting you along the way.
Sometimes simply understanding and processing why you are feeling the way you are can be the biggest life changer.
It's enables you to understand why with how much you've got going on you feel the way you feel, it helps you reflect on that it would be normal to feel drained or emotional with everything you've been through.
Enabling you to begin to process, understand and develope coping Techniques.
Often we just have a rough time and the way we are feeling is just an emotional recation to how we deal with it.
Having alcohol or drugs as part of that reaction to numb the pain, actually makes things worse and delays the reaction.
Life often chucks a lot our way, and sometimes it can just feel as if things are getting on top of us. Understanding how to emotionally react to these and process these thoughts and feelings is key.
Just because someone is having a bad day, doesn't mean they are depressed it doesn't mean they need all the emergency services and blue lights, they just need someone to talk to, to feel valued and to help process the way they are feeling.
Understanding that those feelings are a normal part of life and that we all react emotionally to different situations. Somtimes just being a good friend can help someone in a difficult situation.
But we are better when we are connected with our community. When we aim to reduce the feelings arising from social isolation & loneliness while being able to create companions.
This is because being better connected and creating a genuine human connection increases wellbeing through social networks. The best way to reduce these troubling feelings is being around people.
Creating Companionship
Trevor Sherwood wanted to create a way of reaching community members experiencing loneliness and isolation, especially those who are too afraid of leaving their home. Creating a coffee shop allowed us to create the environment in which we were able to start supporting people without stigma or using labels.
Trevor really cared about this because locally a lot of young males have committed suicide - loneliness and isolation seemed to be the main reason.
We believe it isn’t older people who are most likely to be lonely - the reality is loneliness is affecting many younger people.
Because there was so little support for lonely people, we set about creating this through the unique power of having coffee.
We believe that the route to healing loneliness is creating opportunities for companionship through genuine human connection.
Through wanting to target the route cause of loneliness Trevor developed the UK’s first socially prescribed coffee scheme with local partners.
What is Loneliness?
loneliness is being alone when you don’t want to be - or feeling alone when you are with others.
People who are experiencing loneliness often find it difficult to make friends because they find it easier to withdraw from social activities leaving them feeling sad and alone.
Within our day to day life everyone needs a meaningful contact with others to feel safe, loved and cared for.
When you don’t have this it is normal to feel lonely.
Choosing to be by yourself is different to loneliness.
Making an informed choice to spend time in your own company can be healthy and build resilience.
Being lonely can have a negative impact on mental health and lead to difficulties such as anxiety or depression. Loneliness can be found anywhere.
Someone can have many social interactions but still feel lonely because they lack a real connection with those around them.
While everyone can experience loneliness differently it often results in social isolation, feeling left out, unheard or not belonging. If loneliness is not reduced it will eventually impact on a persons emotional and physical wellbeing.
The power of a human connection
Human connection is the most effective way to reduce the feelings of loneliness.
Loneliness occurs when there is lack of genuine human connection to other people.
A human connection is a deep bond that’s formed between people when they feel seen, heard and valued by one another.
During genuine human connection people exchange positive energy with one another and build trust - enabling them to begin creating companionship.
Human connection makes you feel heard and understood and gives you a sense of belonging. We are a social species and wired to connect with one another.
According to Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” food, water, safety, love and belonging are the most important, included within these are our desire for interpersonal relations, intimacy connection with others and feeling part of a group.
When these needs are met, our overall wellbeing improves and we are able to live a more fulfilled life.