We've struck gold with our neighbour! Two floors above us lives a lady who seems to have been a retired ghost hunter for the past two years – except she doesn't hunt ghosts, but rather the inaudible noises that only she can hear!
With astonishing vehemence for an 82-year-old, she uses her hands, broomsticks and other ‘mysterious objects’ to strike a nocturnal symphony on walls and door frames, often waking us from our sleep every hour.
My attempts to get the situation under control – ignoring it, withdrawing attention, mobilising the neighbourhood, calling the police, making phone calls – seem to have been as effective as an umbrella in the desert. Nothing has changed. The dead fish in the cupboard, as Omar Ali Shah so aptly remarked, continues to stink merrily away.
I am on the verge of not only dragging the fish out of the cupboard, but placing it on my neighbour's head.
I'll listen to your essay again and hope for an alternative. Thank you.
Ahhh... the smelly dead fish in the cupboard syndrome .... yes, that can be a feisty one! Rather than meddling with the old lady, why not try join her in her hunting of the noises... and maybe you could then find a solution to the noise that she would accept ... far better than knocking her on the head with a broomstick while humming Beethoven...
I am a retired Community Psychiatric Nurse and have come across similar situations. She seems to be mentally ill. Police should have referred her for an assessment by the community mental heath team. It may be worth contacting Social Services for an assessment as she may be vulnerable, neglecting herself, etc., but maybe you've already done these?
She's quite a character, appearing in two different versions. She leaves her flat all dressed up and drives to the shops and the doctor once a week without any visible traffic offenses. There have been rough patches where the psychiatric emergency services picked her up, but she never lets them into her flat. A retired police liaison officer talks to her regularly, but it doesn't help. I suspect her medication is straining her nerves so much that she's hearing things. From the outside, she just seems like a nasty little woman, and my complaint about the disturbance of the peace has been sitting unprocessed at the district administration office for eight months. That's just how things work here in the city.
Now she's starts knocking again, at least rhythmically 😑 Aum
Loving the information you are providing in these presentations. This one seems to be describing being 'mindful', which as you describe, brings awareness to and deepens it within this mystery of consciousness - being right here, right now, and recognising the frequent (for me at least) lapses into the unconsciousness of 'dreaming whilst awake' under that wily magician's spell you wrote about early on in this series. This website offers a free, 8 week mindfulness course that helps one develop awareness in all the areas of vigilance you mentioned.
Thanks Stephen... yes, here's about being 'mindful'... yet I tend to use the term 'awareness' and self vigilance of one's perceptions and awareness .... be 'mindful' of that wily magician!!
You do such wonderful layered writing, where I am more like a layered fine artists, thank you Kingsley for this insightful chapter!
Merci & gracias Catharina .... it's all about the fine layering ;-)
Mindfulness
We've struck gold with our neighbour! Two floors above us lives a lady who seems to have been a retired ghost hunter for the past two years – except she doesn't hunt ghosts, but rather the inaudible noises that only she can hear!
With astonishing vehemence for an 82-year-old, she uses her hands, broomsticks and other ‘mysterious objects’ to strike a nocturnal symphony on walls and door frames, often waking us from our sleep every hour.
My attempts to get the situation under control – ignoring it, withdrawing attention, mobilising the neighbourhood, calling the police, making phone calls – seem to have been as effective as an umbrella in the desert. Nothing has changed. The dead fish in the cupboard, as Omar Ali Shah so aptly remarked, continues to stink merrily away.
I am on the verge of not only dragging the fish out of the cupboard, but placing it on my neighbour's head.
I'll listen to your essay again and hope for an alternative. Thank you.
Ahhh... the smelly dead fish in the cupboard syndrome .... yes, that can be a feisty one! Rather than meddling with the old lady, why not try join her in her hunting of the noises... and maybe you could then find a solution to the noise that she would accept ... far better than knocking her on the head with a broomstick while humming Beethoven...
"Hah, that's a very good idea! I'm definitely going to think about that 'fate knocking at the door' description."
I am a retired Community Psychiatric Nurse and have come across similar situations. She seems to be mentally ill. Police should have referred her for an assessment by the community mental heath team. It may be worth contacting Social Services for an assessment as she may be vulnerable, neglecting herself, etc., but maybe you've already done these?
Hey, thanks for your message.
She's quite a character, appearing in two different versions. She leaves her flat all dressed up and drives to the shops and the doctor once a week without any visible traffic offenses. There have been rough patches where the psychiatric emergency services picked her up, but she never lets them into her flat. A retired police liaison officer talks to her regularly, but it doesn't help. I suspect her medication is straining her nerves so much that she's hearing things. From the outside, she just seems like a nasty little woman, and my complaint about the disturbance of the peace has been sitting unprocessed at the district administration office for eight months. That's just how things work here in the city.
Now she's starts knocking again, at least rhythmically 😑 Aum
Loving the information you are providing in these presentations. This one seems to be describing being 'mindful', which as you describe, brings awareness to and deepens it within this mystery of consciousness - being right here, right now, and recognising the frequent (for me at least) lapses into the unconsciousness of 'dreaming whilst awake' under that wily magician's spell you wrote about early on in this series. This website offers a free, 8 week mindfulness course that helps one develop awareness in all the areas of vigilance you mentioned.
Many thanks and much appreciated Kingsley!
https://palousemindfulness.com/index.html
Thanks Stephen... yes, here's about being 'mindful'... yet I tend to use the term 'awareness' and self vigilance of one's perceptions and awareness .... be 'mindful' of that wily magician!!
Vigilante of the Soul…🙏
Soulful watching ....