Category: What’s next?

Retirement Pondering Point: Honor your creative surges…

I have two of Jill Badonsky’s books: The Awe-manac and The Muse Is In

Until tonight, I had not opened this newsletter. My wife had forwarded it to me the same month I left my job almost two years ago. Just one of those emails that slipped by.
I hope the quote nudges my fellow retirees forward in your creative pursuits. [Note: I posted this in my other blog –the mark of a good quote.]

jill badonsky quote with background

If you believe it’s time to give that creative calling inside of you a shot, honor it in some really small way today.

Start by asking “What do I love about my creative passion?” and “What one really small thing I can do to get started?”

Just asking these questions, even without having an answer, will begin to shift your energy toward the thoughts and actions that make it easier to get to your passion.

Once you light that fire, you will shine so brightly, there’s a chance one or two souls will stop their bickering and be inspired to do the same–you will be a catalyst of creative passion. — Jill Badonsky

Retirement Pondering Points: On self-deception and Dairy Queen

retirement pondering barbary-ape

  1. I think the higher powers of nutrition should give us a few ‘brownie’ [unfortunate word choice] points for at least sauntering by and pricing the rainbow chard, even if the ultimate destination is the ice cream section.
  2. We have flights [samplers] for wine, flights for beer, why not flights of Dairy Queen Blizzards?

Retirement Pondering Point: Six thoughts on reading obituaries

read-newspaper-obituaries

  1. I read them only to the point where you’re inspired to do something special or different with my day.
  2. I try to find at least one thing the obituary’s subject did that might reassure you? [ex: feel good that you accomplished something similar]
  3. If they do weigh me down on a given day, I just move on. There’s no reason to force it.
  4. “Obits have next to nothing to do with death and, in fact, absolutely everything to do with the life.” New York Times obituary writer Margalit Fox.
  5. “…a good obit illuminates not just one particular individual’s story but also the broader idea of all that is possible in life.”  STEPHANIE ZACHAREK May 4, 2017. http://time.com/4766634/the-art-of-obit-a-life-in-800-words/
  6. Quote from Austin Kleon about reading obituaries: “Reading them is a way for me to think about death while also keeping it at arm’s length.”  Austin Kleon Show Your Work

 

Retirement Pondering Point: The Gift [a repost]

Retire-Renewers, this is a three-minute wake-up call I’ve bookmarked for a weekly ‘revisit’.

I would love to hear how this TED talk might change an hour, a day, or a year of your life.

Because Stacey Kramer delivered this in 2010, you may be among the 3.7 million people who have already seen it.

Today was the first time I’d seen it. Much better late than never…

Quote from video: “So the next time you’re faced with something that’s unexpected, unwanted, and uncertain, consider…that it just may be…a gift.”

 

Retirement Pondering Point: The Gift

Retire-Renewers, even if you’ve already seen it, this is a three-minute wake-up call I’ve bookmarked for a weekly ‘revisit’.

I would love to hear how this might change an hour, a day, or a year of your life.

This TED talk is from 2010 and has been viewed by 3.7 million people.
And today was the first time I’ve seen it.
I went eight years without this ‘gift’ and, because of my jobs and pastimes, I spend a fair amount of time online.

A prime illustration of how wide and deep the Internet has become.

 

Six phases of retirement

thinking-272677_640

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’.”]