The invincible island

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aughter therapy and music therapy sessions, personal development workshops, and group snacks are some of the many activities that have led Mari Cruz to delve into a universe of new sensations and knowledge and, moreover, to begin to see solitude with different eyes. Because if the poet W. H. Auden said that "to be free is often to feel alone," the opposite is also true: solitude can be synonymous with freedom. "Sometimes we are not aware of the freedom we have when we are alone. We move differently, we act differently. The only one who controls you is yourself," she assures with a certain pride.

Mari Cruz began to utter these words with conviction when she realized that she had a lot of experiences within her reach. "The workshops Living as I want and Living positively seem wonderful to me, because before I didn't know how to live as I wanted; I lived as was stipulated. I used to complain that I had many leaks… Now they don't even bother me, because my mind is occupied! I get a different benefit from my days by painting, reading, or crocheting," says Mari Cruz. Everything counts. The important thing is that, when night falls, she feels that her day has been worthwhile.

She also remembers that once she felt she no longer had time to be bored or to find fault with things, the best part of all arrived: learning to love herself as she hadn't done in the last 70 years. "They have taught me that I have aptitudes I didn't know about. It's very important because, even if you think you have a lot, the only thing you really have is yourself." Proof of how Mari Cruz's self-concept has changed is that, recently, she dared to teach a workshop on crocheting and other household tasks to her program companions.

The effects that loneliness can cause on our health, such as increasing the risk of suffering a heart attack or developing arthritis, make the Community Intervention technique of Siempre Acompañados, Elisabeth Poy, join the idea that several researchers have put on the table in recent years: loneliness is the epidemic of our times. In addition to a longer life expectancy, Elisabeth believes that this is due to the fact that "we live in a society that pushes us to be individualistic. In a few generations, forms of coexistence and family relationships have changed a lot. Young people don't like aging. And the solution involves provoking a cultural change through intergenerational activities and a lot of awareness."

According to Elisabeth, "we are still in time to prevent this from getting worse," but she insists that to achieve this, it is more than essential that its protagonists dare to write the last chapters of their lives. "It is necessary for older people to want to recognize their situation of loneliness, to have the desire and attitude to squeeze what life can give them and not to break their emotional ties, because it is the love we feel for others that ultimately helps us to get up."

Text: Alba Losada Illustration: Rodrigo Alexandrino ICO

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