Retirement, Take 2

Goodness. The last time I wrote a blog entry it was late 2009, and I was about to retire. Time, perhaps for a look back at my first five years of retirement and a few musings about future plans. Then, hopefully, I will stay with this blog, as I always enjoyed writing and posting entries.  So here goes…the latest new beginning…

Retirement started with a huge bang when long-time friend E. and I spent 7 weeks touring New Zealand and Australia in the spring of 2010, traveling mostly on our own. Both countries are spectacular and I would return to either in a heartbeat. That heartbeat would need to include a sizable cash infusion, though, for another such trip to be possible. Still, our journey was a carefree, joyous, memorable, and altogether wonderful experience. We even ended our trip still friends, which does not always happen after sharing close quarters for so long.

Then what? Alas, I made the classic rookie retiree’s mistake, and took on more volunteer “opportunities” than I could handle with either good cheer or much grace. It has taken four years for some of the last and most time-consuming ones to wind down, which is much too long to remain enthusiastic about volunteer jobs for which one did not actually volunteer. This is one of those life lessons I have had to experience several times to finally, I pray, learn to get right. My brother and a friend had the identical inspiration last year, when they gave me napkins and a coffee mug, both emblazoned with the plea, “Please stop me before I volunteer again!” Oh, don’t misunderstand. Volunteering is a good thing. It's the part about learning when to say no that trips me up.

But at last, freedom from any serious responsibility has risen on the horizon and, with it, a new life plan. What to do with this opportunity? I still want to learn to play both mountain and hammered dulcimer, and have scheduled my first lesson. I have started making some new jewelry pieces, too, which is always an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. There is something deliciously childlike in trying different color and shape combinations — almost like being 5 years old again and experimenting with a new box of crayons. Finding the right one still makes me smile. Are there more hobbies and interests? Oh yes, always, from reading to research. The problem here is not wondering how to fill the hours, but fitting all I want to do into any one day.

In addition, “The Great Purge” is underway in my house, as I prepare for a massive downsizing and move to a permanent retirement home next year. The dulcimer and jewelry are fun; the move is essential. Both will take me in new directions and lead to new friends and fresh opportunities. This is all good.

A much earlier blog entry was on the subject of letting go, as I prepared to sell my cherished yellow roadster. So here is the good news that I am discovering: the more you let go, the easier it is to let go of more; the more you discard, the freer you become. I know -- we’ve all read that somewhere else -- or more likely, many times in many articles, or heard it from others who took that advice to heart and walked before us the path of release from possessions. This time I am paying attention, and it’s OK, really. I am learning to dial back the memories and the guilt, and to make more rational decisions about what to keep. 

Is this retirement and reinvention, take 2? It certainly looks like it -- and I am more than ready to wend my way down this path and find out.