Living With Gladys Full Time

Whats happened to time? Its gone all bendy and out of shape, in a really good way though. Gone are the rigid confines of time that  seemed time tabled into conventional living. I used to have an inner feeling that time in each day was running out. I was bound by time, up against the clock all day really so that I could have some time in the evening to relax with Alistair before Mr Sandman called me for my 9.30 ish appointment with him!

Being in Gladys and our parking place in natures garden has changed this, a lot. Time seems to meander really gently as each day unfolds  whether I am working or not. We have only ourselves to please, there is hardly any upkeep and the pace is deliciously relaxed. And, another first for me, Mr Sandman seems to have relaxed his grip on me, unheard of I know, but I am alive and kicking at past 11pm these days!

Talking of alive and kicking, I have myself a real life Tamagotchi. Remember those little virtual pets that became popular in the 90’s (they may well still be popular but we don’t have youngsters that young around us any more), the ones that needed feeding regularly, cleaning up after, medicine administered when sick and an attention icon that lit up when it needed attention otherwise they die? Well I have one here, in the familiar form of Alistair!

Pippin who was always on hand in the old house to help out with Alistair related care if I had to go away suggested that indeed it was like looking after a Tamagotchi and she was quite right. Where does Alistair’s locus of control go when it comes to him looking after himself?

Anyone that knows him well will know that without a shadow of a doubt he likes to be in control of things (think Foreman on ALL things and you will get the idea). Its what makes him him, I have always said that he has a fairly complicated label but if you read the label carefully then there’s no problem. But crikey, bring on a healthcare discipline that needs ultimate control and his gland for control doesn’t seem to work (maybe its taken sympathy with his Prostate gland and gone into hiding)!

Lucky for the Tamagotchi then that I, who in our relationship have always been happy to follow, and amenable to his label, in this instance can plan and structure and timetable as if it was a route march and our lives depended on it (well Alistair’s does so I’m not far wrong there). I knew my time in the NHS would come in handy!

People who have read this blog have commented about Alistair’s bravery at going down a completely alternative non medical route. Yes it is brave but for us it has none of the fear attached to it that comes from the medical model. What has emerged though is that healing requires sustained effort and time. That is something that is not prescribed on the NHS, pills yes, things that are out of your control yes, Consultants staring at you over a desk and shaking their heads if you disagree yes but to give yourself time, no.

So for me it is simply wonderful that time has bent out of its rigid shape that tied us both up in its net in our old conventional way of living. Its wonderful that Alistair has time to rest and heal and soak up natures energy allowing his cells to create healthy tissue and bring his internal system into a more balanced state, perhaps for the first time ever.

It is a pleasure for me to have time to prepare his concoctions, mix up his muesli a la Budwig, juice the copious amounts of veg each morning and take care of the 4 times daily nutritional supplements that he must take. In Tamogotchi world, I meet the hourly and daily needs of the Tam and in return I get a strong, healthy well balanced playmate!

And of course, in reality it isn’t that time has changed its shape at all, I have changed, we both have. Stress, worries, financial concerns and all manner of daily hassles that came with conventional living that we were more or less unaware of (apart from the monthly bills of course) have gone and in their place we are cultivating an environment of peace, relaxation and simply being.

Two weeks in and we are truly loving every minute of our life in Gladys, near the woods, under the oak trees.