You Want a Piece of Me?

The thing I’ve noticed in retirement is that everyone wants a piece of you.  The general assumption is that you have lots of time on your hands and those still working or in school or needing extra assistance or volunteers ask you to do stuff for them.

It’s almost like folks think I’m just sitting here looking out my window ALL DAY waiting for marching orders.

This is good and bad. Since my husband is still working at a very stressful job, I am happy that I can take care of some of the chores that were his domain – like taking out the garbage and recycle and making sure we have something to eat for dinner.

It’s also good that I have time to help my elderly mother do her shopping and that we can spend time together. 

Doing more volunteer work for my church gives me a feeling of accomplishment, which I have missed since no longer at work completing big product launches (for instance) on deadline.

Being able to jump online and find a hostel in Hong Kong on a moments notice for my traveling adult son makes me feel needed. Looking up my Netflix password for my daughter in college doesn’t take long.

But when you add all these small things together, suddenly I find myself doing what I did when I worked; Running around at the beck and call of others and not having time to pursue things that are meaningful to me.

It wasn’t like this from day 1 of retirement. In fact, right after I retired, I discovered the Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to HigherCreativity and made my way through the 12-week program. As I explored my creative side, I was reminded that I DID HAVE HOBBIES and interests outside of family, work and church.

For instance, at one point in my life I was a photography major and my desire was to work for National Geographic traveling to wild places to photograph, you guessed it… nature.  At some point, I became convinced that my talent was not enough and the competition too much to continue on this career path so I chose to go into marketing.

This was by all measures a good decision as I enjoyed my career and had the pleasure of working with lots of creative people which allowed me to think creatively as well.

But now, I would like to explore my creativity on an even more personal level with this camera I purchased. Alas, I find my time being parsed up so much that I rarely take the time to just go shoot photos.

Granted I can’t blame all of this on requests from others. I do have a desire to stay connected to folks via email, social media, lunch dates and outings. I do make it a priority to workout at the local Y several times a week and I have started the Couch to 5K running program about 6 times since I retired. 

It's just that between the big and little things I want to do and the demands on my time from others, I find it hard to get to the BIG, creative, fun things on my list.

So… maybe I haven’t’ got this retirement thing quite all figured out yet.  

Do you have some advice on how to make the best of retirement?  

Or maybe you're sitting there playing the world's smallest violin for me and your desire is to tell me to stop whining.

Then by all means, toss me a comment in the space below.

Ciao for now!

Miriam

The View From My Kitchen Window... Step One in my Retirement Routine

They say when you retire, you should create some kind of daily routine to keep boredom and depression at bay. Guess what? THEY are right!

After a couple years of tweaking my Retirement Routine, I still start my days the very same way… enjoying the view from my kitchen window.

What I haven’t yet put into my routine is sharing my view as the seasons change and the world turns. That’s been on my “could be cool” list of creative endeavors but I kept getting lost in silly little things like sweeping the kitchen floor and let’s Face it… Social Media.

Then I read a post written by John Richmond on the Storyline blog (also part of my daily routine) titled “Are you the Assassin of Your Own Ideas?“  The gist is to stop focusing on all the reasons to NOT do something (it takes time, I’m not that creative, will anyone really read it, really Who Cares what I have to say?) and put one foot in front of the other and just start.

Others have given me similar advice, including Anne Lamott and OK, I have to say it – Nike. (My career in marketing causes me to notice such things as the Just Do It campaign, which has some tremendous legs.)

Then as I was in the middle of my morning walk/run/pray I was thinking I could start by showing a photo of the robin nestlings just outside my window – which made me think “Of course spring is the perfect time to begin anew… or a blog.”

So after my outing, a shower and a bit of floor sweeping, I started to write! 

That evening as God-light embraced the nest, I snapped a couple photos.

I wish I would have taken photos of the nest building process. What started as a few twigs mysteriously stuck in the elbow of a downspout, soon blossomed into an amazingly secure and comfy robin nest. 

Over the course of 2 weeks, the robin couple carried dried fibers of grass, small twigs and mud, mouthful by mouthful to the nest, making several hundred trips. I could hear them tamping down the mud with their belly, wing and beak. Slowly, what was just a messy gathering of twigs, became a perfect nest. 

During the  process they had to fight off a couple of mourning doves who were mighty impressed with the nest. But Mr. and Mrs. Robin were not in the business of flipping homes. At least not until their brood was ready to move on.

Mrs. Robin laid their eggs and she and the proud papa-to-be took turns sitting on the nest. A couple weeks later the babies emerged! Mom kept them warm while dad hunted worms and bugs to keep them well fed.  

What God has programmed into these birds is amazing! After the first brood hatches and takes off on wings of flight... they are likely to start over again building an entirely new nest, and maybe a third. All within a few week's time in the short spring/summer of Michigan.

Wow.

This is my first View From My Kitchen Window post. I see lots of nature from my window and it inspires me in many ways. So my desire is to share my view and the perspective it provides, with anyone who happens upon these pages.

I'm interested in your perspective as well, so please feel free to comment as the spirit moves you. 

This IS my first consistent writing endeavor. So...

I’m going to try what Anne Lamott tweeted: "Leap up!  Find notebook. Scribble. Wow. You don't write to be remembered. You won't be; I won't be. Write bc it's on your heart."

I hope you enjoy this journey with me!

Miriam

P.S. My first child was born on a Friday the 13th. Since then, I have regarded every Friday the 13th as among my luckiest days. So then... what could possibly be a better day for my first blog post?