From time to time people, for whatever the reason  may be get themselves into crime and sometimes, as a result have to pay the price with prison.  Many people learn some positive & valuable lessons about their lives thus making important decisions about their future.  I’m guessing It can be much easier for people who have access to family, friends etc to keep their focus on what they want and how they can go about getting it.  Whether it’s to get some education, a job, start up their own business or just cherish their family while they re-organise their lives there’s always hope… Always scope…

Sometimes people aren’t so lucky and when they go to prison.  Sometimes people don’t have that family support and people who they thought were friends seem become non existent even though they said they’d be there.  I would imagine prison can be a very lonely place at times and added to that the thought that no-one is outside for them most likely mate life one hell of a lot more difficult.

So here’s a huge generalisation for the sake of this writing as I place ‘prisoners’ into two imaginary categories.  Prisoners with a strong family and friends network and prisoners without.

Now I’m not suggesting for a minute that the above generalisation is true but I’d like you to imagine two possible scenarios and consider for a moment how that one aspect could be a major player in whether someone never goes back or becomes a life long affiliate.

Prisoner (1) gets plenty of visits by family and friends and when the postman visits he’s the envy of the block when the letters pile in and he runs back to his cell with something to look forwards to… And there’s the rub because Prisoner (1) has something to look forwards to and not just in that moment.  The letters surely wont take long to read and the visits may only be for an hour or so with an opportunity to stuff their face with chocolate. knowing people care and knowing that people even took the time to write a few words gives Prisoner (1) the edge.  Constantly looking forwards to visits, letters, whilst maintaining contact with the outside world means Prisoner (1) can make changes and know they have people supporting them in doing so.

Prisoner (2) Gets no visits by family and in the first few weeks of sentencing a few likely lads visit with tales of how they’d stick by their brother and sort things for him on the outside.  Shallow words backed up by zero action and in a very short space of time the visits drop to where it’s not even worth sending out a VO because no-one will turn up anyway.

Do you get where I’m going here?

Our Prisoner (2) who’s as good as anyone else is looking towards the future just as much as Prisoner (1) the difference being that for (2) the future is bleak.  As the weeks turn into months it becomes bleaker and the loneliness and isolation becomes ever more stamped into the personality of number (2).  The capacity of mind and capabilities of creating a future are exactly the same but prisoner (2) is using his power of mind to create a nightmare and as he extends his imagination to the outside world… All he can see is doom and gloom…  Eventually he settles into the routine and starts to feel safe in his environment.  They may not care for him outside but in here he feels a sense of belonging… He knows deep down that most are not his friends but in here you have to be friends cos you don’t want enemies…

Eventually he gets out and the world he imagined exists in full technicolour… A belief sets out to prove what it assumes and he uses his creativity yet again and goes around proving that people don’t care and he might as well be back inside.  Beliefs are a fascinating and powerful illusion and Prisoner (2) artfully created his life in his mind and then set out to get it.. Guess what?

He was so good at doing it he didn’t even have to think about it and it all just came to him like a man that’s got the midas touch only in a different way…

So he’s back in prison and he’s back being a number… But to him it’s much much better than being out there… Because no-one cares anymore not even him…

Project i have recently subscribed to EMAIL A PRISONER so that in future we can keep in contact and show that we’re still around and still willing to support people beyond the doors of our building.  We think that by just doing this one thing alone we could make a difference… It doesn’t cost much in fact all it costs is the effort to put finger to virtual ink and in the process quite possibly change someones life…

You might not get any recognition from anyone but Prisoner (2) and who cares?  After all they’re the people that matter…

For anyone interested the link is here: http://www.emailaprisoner.com/

Project i