• About
  • Contact Me

sillisoup

~ Recipe: Observe, think, and feel. Then create.

sillisoup

Tag Archives: retirement

Writing 101 – Day One – Unexpurgated Free Writing

06 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by sillisoup in Random Thoughts

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

freewriting, retirement, writing101

Read at your own risk.  Know that it took all my courage to push the Publish button on this one!

stairs4x6

Wow, free write for twenty minutes.  As a former English teacher/English major I know this is a great writing exercise, but I have to admit I’ve never tried it for myself.  My first thought when I read the assignment, since it’s late in the day, was to look at others’ posts to get an idea of how they approached it.  Then I thought, Nah, I need to just jump in and see what happens.  I’m a little unsettled about the task because when I write I want the results to be correct and polished (see English teacher/major).  And after all, free writing should be, well, free.  Ok, so I’ve covered the topic of the topic, so what do I write about?  My mind is usually full of so many different topics, but now they’ve all taken a brief (20 minute, I think) coffee break.

I’ve been thinking lately about my old boss whom I both admired and dreaded.  I worked for him for 25 years and at times he drove me nuts because the two of us were so different, but as time went by I mostly grew to admire him.  He taught me so much about striving for excellence in my work, about being organized and professional, and about his mantra, which was “incremental improvement”, or, as he dubbed it, incrementalism.  Because I’m a not-so-closet perfectionist about my work, whatever it happens to be, I remind myself about incremental improvement still – even in retirement.  Anyway, I just heard that my former boss will be undergoing heart surgery, and I hope with all my heart (excuse me) that it goes well so that he can continue his own retirement which began with a year or two in Hawaii because he always loved the beach and has since moved to the Northwest where his grown children live. Damnit!  Life begins again at retirement for those of us who welcome it, so I hope he lives long and incrementalizes.

So, my retirement.  I tell people that I was born to retire.  Not that I don’t want to work…I still work.  I just want to work at what I choose and devote my time and energy to what I want to do rather than what I must do.  The Wise Ones are always saying that if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.  I think for the vast majority of people, this is just bull shit.  We work at what we have to in order to make a living.  If your work is what you choose, that’s great, but things rarely turn out to be the way you think they’ll be or you want them to be.  I mostly wanted to be a teacher, but teaching is very demanding work and requires most of your time and energy and very often seems to be for naught.  So spend 25 years doing it, and you’re ready for other choices.  Fortunately, I have many interests and am very rarely bored. I’m more likely to be frustrated because the time disappears before the projects are accomplished.

I feel so fortunate in my life.  Although I grew up very, very poor and with a lot of dysfunction in my family life, I was able to go to college and ultimately to build a good life for myself.  I made many, many mistakes and have many regrets, but mostly I’m happy.  I have enough money to get by and to do most of what I want to do, within reason.  I have may people to thank for this.  Timer’s up.  Wheewwwww……

There’s Nothing Like a Snow Day

04 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by sillisoup in Philosophy, Random Thoughts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

blogging101, freedom, retirement, snow, snow day

snow dayWith apologies to Bostonians, linemen, snow removal services and mail carriers, I must admit that I love a snow day.  Maybe it’s because my entire life has been spent in education – getting it, giving it – and and inside me is that little kid who just wants to sleep in and then curl up with a good book and watch the weather through the window.  And only a little part of me is that kid who wants to put on boots and mittens and go play in it.  Well…not much of me  at all.

I’m retired now, so in theory every day should be a snow day if I want it to be, right?  But I still need some sort of permission (excuse) to just spend a day in the house doing whatever pleases me.  If school hadn’t been canceled today, I’d be planning and preparing for then going to the Boys and Girls Club this afternoon to do a cooking class, as I do most Wednesdays.  Retired or not, life usually has a great deal of structure. So, snow.  Permission granted to spend the morning reading in my PJs.  I have all sorts of chores and projects circling around waiting for me to begin them, but I feel like I can pick whichever ones I want and my day will still be lazy and illuminated in that lovely grayish-white snow light that gives one permission to just be.

Maybe tomorrow the weather will be just as good, er, I mean bad….   Sorry, Bostonians, linemen, snow removal services and mail carriers.

A Little Bit of Everything

Here to share photos, thoughts simple and profound, and to chat about books, food, and the state of the world.
Follow sillisoup on WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • Post (almost)-Pandemic Musings
  • Just Another Wandering Wednesday
  • Musings in a Difficult Time
  • Marauding – Oasis in the Desert
  • Stories of Family in the Time of Covid-19 – Part 3: Reopening (a little bit)

Archives

Categories

  • Art and Creativity
  • Covid-19
  • Family
  • Food
  • Lore
  • new mexico
  • Philosophy
  • Photography
  • Random Thoughts
  • Reading
  • Travel
  • Weddings

Blogs I Follow

  • abyquilts
  • Kimjww's Blog
  • The Wayne Chronicle
  • Renard's World
  • Image Pixels Explore Photography
  • #HOPEJAHRENSURECANWRITE
  • Ochwoman To The Rescue
  • Paper Pencil Life
  • Clumsy and Stupid
  • GalaxyJane Cruises the Universe

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com
Follow sillisoup on WordPress.com
Follow sillisoup on WordPress.com
Follow sillisoup on WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

abyquilts

Sharing the joy of quilt-making

Kimjww's Blog

Just another WordPress.com site

The Wayne Chronicle

Inclusive & Unbiased News - Nationally Focused, Internationally Viewed.

Renard's World

My Personal Space On The Web To Post Anything That Tickles My Fancy

Image Pixels Explore Photography

When imaging and pixels merge we make art

#HOPEJAHRENSURECANWRITE

books and things.

Ochwoman To The Rescue

A teacher in search of ways to save ourselves, our classrooms, and the world

Paper Pencil Life

Comics & Illustration by Summer Pierre

Clumsy and Stupid

Blog about Canada and travels/ Blog o Kanadzie i podróżach

GalaxyJane Cruises the Universe

Bad Movies, Good Metal, and Not Enough Travel

  • Follow Following
    • sillisoup
    • Join 62 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • sillisoup
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...