What do I mean by uplift?
Uplift says we matter. It could be something as simple as a piece of cake or some nice biscuits at a carers group. (Believe me the choice of biscuits really matters).
Uplift is a safe place to land at the end of a conversation. It can be the moment at the end of a 1-1 call or a group chat, having perhaps talked through the challenging issues of life we take a moment to look ahead at things we are looking forward to or the action we are planning to take. Or a moment of reflection where we look at what we have learnt or who we have around us.
Uplift is a reason to laugh at the end of a tough week. Some fun activities or games or just spending time with people that make us smile. In our Mobilise Cuppas for Carers, we’ve been making Friday a "Funtastic Friday" with some quick fun things, a few laughs or a roll of the eyes at a rotten joke.
We could have been crying one minute but together, because we care about each other, we find ourselves laughing at the silliest of things.
Uplift can’t be forced on someone, only made available. As carers we can choose if it’s helpful for us at that moment, it’s never compulsory.
Uplift can feel impossible sometimes too. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, for many, uplift seemed like something very far away, in our established cuppa groups we’ve seen carers move from this impossible feeling to times where uplift shows up naturally and is part of what everyone brings to the group.
Uplift can happen naturally, but it is too important to leave to chance, we can be intentional. When we make it intentional it becomes a habit, when it becomes a habit we can begin to access it whenever we need it.
Why is uplift important for carers?
For many carers the challenges we face each day don’t have an easy fix. We look at the road ahead and see that things are unlikely to change soon, in fact the situation could get worse. We need to find ways to keep going, simple things that we can access every day.
Where can I get some of this uplift?
The Mobilise community are pretty intentional about uplift. Hopefully you will spot it in our e-support package, our 1-1 carers conversations and our Mobilise Cuppas. It’s there in our Facebook Group too. We’ll never force it on you, we’ll be with you on the days where it seems far away and just keep making uplift available in little ways.