Saturday, December 01, 2007

Two more reasons why seniors should blog

Last Saturday, I gave a talk to a group of about 40 seniors at the Silver Infocomm Day at RSVP at Bishan Central. This event was jointly organized by RSVP, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme and IDA as part of the Active Ageing Festival. Entitled, "Blogging today on yesterday.sg", my talk lasted about 40 minutes.

The main aim was to encourage the seniors to take up blogging as a hobby. I shared with them my own experience and thrill in blogging about stuff of yesteryears. I also argued that blogging is good for their health because blogging involved much mental exercise which health experts claim can stave off age-related diseases like Alzeheimer’s disease.

PICT7020

Yesterday I found another two reasons why seniors should blog; but alas the talk was over already.


Reason No. 1: You will have less quarrels with your spouse

According to researchers from Loyola University, reminiscing about the good times can make people more cheerful. Pleasant memories, it seems, are a good antidote for the blues. I read this in an article by Tabitha Wang, the ‘Budget tai tai’ of TODAY. “Reminiscing can motivate you. It can give you a sense of being rooted, of meaning and purpose – instead of being blown around by the whims of everyday life”, she quoted Loyola psychologist Fred Bryant.

And here’s what I found in an article in Psychology Today:

According to studies by psychologist Tim Wildschut and colleagues at the University of Southampton in the U.K, “people who write about a nostalgic event are more cheerful after the exercise compared with people who write about an everyday experience. The studies also show that people who write about good memories report higher self-esteem and feel more positively about friendships and close relationships.”


Reason No. 2: Writing stuff about the good old days can even earn you some cash. I received $400 in the mail yesterday from taking part in the Singapore Heritagefest 2007 MyStory Portal Competition. Apparently my essay about the days of black and white television in Singapore has won first prize in the Memories category!

So guys … what are you waiting for? Go to Yesterday.sg and post your stories, or email them to me and I will put them up here at Good Morning Yesterday.

9 comments:

Crazyaboutsports said...

Congratulations Chun See. And thanks for getting the message across to the guys at RSVP that day.

Victor said...

Congrats on winning the competition. Drinks and makan on you next time.

yg said...

mr lam, i like to share with you why i blog.

i think basically all bloggers like to share, be it experience, idea, opinion, knowledge or memory.

i got on to blogging because my elder girl had asked me to write my autobiography. come on, who would want to read it except my own children? besides, to write a biography is very demanding; it requires a lot of patience and discipline.

by blogging, i am telling, in snatches, stories about the past and about myself.

for a retiree, this is a good form of mental activity.

oceanskies79 said...

Congratulations Chun See! A well-deserved prize!

Zen said...

Well done Chun See!

Zen said...

Commenting on Chun See two more reasons why seniors should blog, generally I agree but with some reservation. In a situation where a couple retires, it means that two seniors are facing each other day in and day out, domestic sparks may erupt. So helping the wife to do some housework especially without a maid before blogging does help in preserving family peace. For reason no.2, it is nice to win prize money in writing competition, but despite many years in school, able to write well is still a daunting task for many.

Thimbuktu said...

Congratulations, Chun See. You deserve to be the 1st prize winner for writing about the old TV which like other stuff at GMY, these topics are very close to your heart.

Have a grand feast with the family to celebrate Christmas with the prize. Best wishes for a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you and your family.

Cheers!

Lam Chun See said...

Thanks for the kind compliments Thimbuktu. And for introducing my site to your trainees. I hope some of them will be inspired to join us in blogging about the good ol days.

BTW I have added a link to your blog on my side-bar.

Thimbuktu said...

Thank you for the link to "Blog to Express". Those who were introduced to GMY for the first time were surprised and found the blogsite awesome. They will have to make several return visits to GMY to read up on topics which they enjoy. Keep up the good work and to share the joy for posterity!