The Life After
"Retirement is not a life without purpose; it is the ongoing purpose that provides meaningfulness." –Robert Rivers
It is June already. In a couple of weeks, I’ll celebrate the anniversary of my third year of retirement. That seems impossible but speaks to the bullet train speed our lives take on as we get older. Weeks, months and years scream by as I now try to make the most of every day afforded me after working between the 9 to 5 bells for 37 years. In my last post, I mentioned the number of people in my life who have recently passed or are sick. Yesterday I lost another friend. These losses are reminders that every day, every encounter, every hug from an adult child is a gift and a reminder to turn up the urgency of living fully to eleven.
One byproduct of working full time for so long is the development of a routine. I carried this skill, or some might say burden or unwanted restriction, into my retired life without even knowing it. While I recognize I can do what I want, most hours between nine and five are spent in my upstairs office writing, editing, submitting, and fulfilling the obligations of the two writing boards where I volunteer. Writing is not the boss of me (yes, it is) and often I do other things during these hours instead (no I don’t) because I’m aware of my freedom (am I, really?)
Because writing comprises probably 60% of my day, I’ve come to recognize that it is a large part of why I retired early. When I was working, my writing time was limited to weekends or occasionally after work. Now it’s unlimited, and it has become the second career I love after loving my first career in GIS for those thirty-seven years. I was worried about the transition; about being at home all the time and how my wife would adapt to that reality. All indications seem to be that she is fully onboard. Many days of the week we are in our separate offices working away, me on my craft and her on researching travel plans and work-related stuff. We are both comfortable in our aloneness and come together for dinner and periodic office intrusions to show each other a cat video or a funny meme.
Retirement has afforded me much more than just writing. The biggest change is the mind-space that is freed up. No more worrying about meetings, deadlines, and endless training sessions on technology, personnel management, and productivity tips. No more three or five-day conferences with their late nights, early mornings, and mandatory 15,000 steps. No more Sunday blues, lunch packing, ironing, and limited vacation time. No more performance reviews and goal setting. Oh, and did I mention no more meetings? Lord, I don’t miss those.
This new free mind space has allowed me to finish and publish my first short story collection. It revealed that there are some crazy stories in my head waiting to be written if I’m not worried about running next Wednesday’s regional GIS Committee meeting. There are poems coming into gray matter once reserved for struggling with an automated Python script that was suddenly not working after working for three years. It’s allowed me to get 60,000+ words into my first novel, a feat I could only dream about 5 years ago. It has slowed life down. I work for myself and my family now. My wife is in charge of performance reviews. LOL.
I remember a retirement seminar I attended when I was in my early fifties, where the presenter warned that retirement can cause depression in people if they don’t have a purpose or a set of goals. Some people are left with a loss of purpose, self-worth, and social contact. It was an eye-opening concept to me. How could anyone not be happy not working? It instilled a healthy fear in me and a reminder that we don’t retire FROM something; we retire TO something.
The other favorite activity that retirement allows is fishing. I’ve fished since I was eight years old, and now that summer approaches, I plan to get out to my favorite lake in my fishing kayak once a week. Because I can go early on any day of the week, it often means I have the entire lake to myself for the first couple of hours. When I am not catching and or fishing for bass, I am breathing slowly and reflecting on how lucky I am to have the life that I do. It is meditative and good for the soul. Last week I caught and released 32 fish. People ask, doesn’t it get old catching that many? My response is that with every fish I catch, I’m suddenly eight years old again. I’ll never tire of it.
Another perk has been the ability to travel at any given time of the year. Since 2023, we’ve been to Scotland twice, Ireland, Copenhagen, Austria, and Germany. It has become part of our lifestyle to try to get overseas a couple of times a year. If this seems extravagant, remember that during my “earning years” I saved specifically so I could spend in my “spending years.” It meant sacrifice then, and I’m making up for lost time now. These are those spending years. Besides, they say there are three phases of retirement:
1. Go, go. Travel and do the things you want while you have money and your health.
2. Go slow. Slow down and travel only when you’re able, mostly domestic probably.
3. No go. Your homebound years. The most travel you do is to the doctor.
Right now we’re in Go go mode. I want to travel while my health is good. I’m working on keeping that status by walking daily, biking, doing yoga, rowing, kayaking and other physical activities. So much of travel is about stamina and money, and I aim to have one and spend the other while I am able. Time is short; the world awaits.
“I have given myself something to remember me by when I am old. That’s why I travel.”
-Elizabeth Gilbert
The rest of retirement has been a lesson in self-discovery and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I’ve rowed an eight-person shell on the Milwaukee River, tried curling at a local club, took a pottery class, tried paint by numbers and free painting, volunteer at a food pantry and for two writing organizations, worked on house projects and so much more.
What lies ahead? I’m not sure, but am mulling ideas like learning guitar, taking a painting or sketching class, learning how to fly fish, and securing a writing residency either locally or abroad. Too ambitious? Maybe. But like the rest of what I’ve done so far, there’s only one way to find out.
Go, go.
Great read!! Thank you for the incentives!!
Nice view from your desk o' magic!