Month: May 2018

Structuring novelty into the weekend…final results.

looking back on weekend list

A while back, I aimed for ‘new’ throughout a weekend.

Here are the results.

  1. Listen to new music. [More new music: I turned on a new Comcast/Music Choice Channel called Stage and Screen–music made famous in notable film scores, television, and the Broadway stage.]
  2. Start a new book. Still reading Astrophysics for …
  3. Walk/Hike at a new location. [We hit a trail in town that we hadn’t visited for at least two years. That qualifies as ‘new’ to me. Will still aim for a new one tomorrow, perhaps the Beazell Memorial Forest.]
  4. Cook a new dish. [Actually, did a variation on my chocolate chip cookies and stuffed them–one with almond butter and the other with…
  5. Make a new item at tomorrow’s Maker Faire at the university. [Yep, made a block print of two rabbits. Will be putting it up on Etsy for $1000, though there’s that little obstacle of actually creating an Etsy account…and setting up a store…, well you get the idea.]
  6. Buy a dish from one of the food trucks downtown. [Didn’t get there. And still haven’t! I’m a failure! I think I’ll go celebrate my failure with a trip to Saffron Kabob.] 
  7. Use a new app/computer program.
  8. Create web content with a new app.
  9. Use a new setting on one of my cameras. [I used three different settings. Photos and setting labels to be added.]
  10. Add one or two new exercises to my resistance workout. [Yep. Went to YouTube for some great demo’s.]
  11. Plant the new tomato starts I bought this week. [I bought sweet pepper starts and shelling pea starts today for $1.12 apiece. Couldn’t go wrong. Planting will happen tomorrow.]
  12. Add a new chapter to my middle grade book. [Not quite. Did do some outlining, however.]
  13. Create two more new blog posts this weekend. [Added some on two other blogs.]

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Still happy with my realization that I can have the best of both worlds–working Monday through Friday and retired on the weekends.

 

Please add comments about your own search for daily enrichment, no matter how small. If it resonates with you, then it counts as important and interesting.

Stepping Stone 8: Retirement can be a state of mind.

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I’m sure this realization is nothing new, but since I’m fairly new to the retirement game, it’s new to me.

With this light bulb moment in mind, I’ve decided that each weekend can be a mini-retirement.

I’ll still be answerable to loved ones and will aim to be productive, but if I’m hit with a wave of ‘ehhhh, that can wait’, I’ll concede quite willingly.

And, if faced with an opportunity for a new adventure, I’ll follow my ‘Awww, you’re only retired once.’ mantra over the annoying ‘But you’re working again!’ voices.**

**lots of voices, I know. A little disturbing, isn’t it?

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Note: I retired for twelve months and learned plenty. I’ll be posting my impressions and lessons–I’ll call them ‘stepping stones‘–as a friend, not an advisor, and certainly not as an expert. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Six phases of retirement

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https://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/07/sixstages.asp

I found this article very interesting and recently shared this within a Facebook group.

  • Which stage are you in?
  • Are you straddling more than one?
  • Which stage do you want to be in?

Yep, I’m full of questions today, but with few answers. More on that later.

I can say that I am at the stage where I realize I probably have already used the image above, but am shrugging and going with it. [This is a nod to the emerging philosophy of “perfect is the enemy of ‘done’.”]

Stepping Stone 7: TV time wasn’t an issue.

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As much free time as I had, I never camped out in front of the tube. [Though the strewn popcorn is oddly reminiscent of other recliner-sessions…]

In fact, I ended up deleting more unseen sports and cooking shows than those I actually watched.

This isn’t a pat on the back. It was just a pleasant surprise.

Just a reminder: These stepping stones summarize my experience. There may or may not be lessons here for you, but I am thinking some of my experiences may approximate some of what you experience during your retirement years.

Stepping Stone 6: It was difficult to work for myself.

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Oh, sure, there were times I was a very reasonable employer. 

A trip to California? Why not?

Start a new writing project? Sure. It’ll pay off in the future. [It hasn’t yet.]

I got motivated to start new projects and waltz into learning [or trying to learn] new skills and strategies.

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But things stalled when the idea of marketing and any whiff of a profit motive entered into the equation.

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At some point, I put myself on suspension. [Or, in Animal House-speak, ‘double-secret probation’.] [go to the 1:10 mark in the video]

I’ve climbed out of my ‘double-secret’ exile, but still, I’m still in production rather than profit mode. So be it.

Note: I retired for twelve months and learned plenty. I’ll be posting my impressions and lessons–I’ll call them ‘stepping stones‘–as a friend, not an advisor, and certainly not as an expert. Quite the opposite, in fact.