Retirement, Simple Living and Me: An Update!

It has been one year since I began this little adventure called retirement. During this time, I have continued to complete part time assignments for my employer, take care of my aging dad, and have been trying to answer the question, "what exactly do you do when you retire?"

I stopped to talk with a neighbor the other day. We did some catching up and then she asked, "So what do you do now that you have retired?"  I answered, "Well, I walk the dogs."  (I'm sure she had already deduced that since they were slobbering all over her feet at the time). Then for some unknown reason I added, "and I vacuum a lot".

What? Seriously? That's all I could come up with?
Surely I have accomplished something!

I later remembered that I could have told her that I am studying to be a Tai Chi master. However, that's a bit of a stretch since I am beginning to wonder if the class I am in (there are three), is the remedial class. The instructor seems to say, "let's go over that again" and " some of us are getting there." throughout the class time.  Hmmm.

Oh well. I'm sure that as time goes on, I will get the hang of retirement living. Other people seem to have mastered it. In photos of old folks, retirees, they all seem to lead such glamorous lives. They are dancing, gazing lovingly at each other on the deck of a river cruise ship, or congratulating themselves on their choice of cell phone plans.

I do read quite a bit and I came across a quote the other day that really spoke to me.  Dr. Brene Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston and an author. She writes:

"If we want to make meaning we need to make art. Cook, write, draw, doodle, paint, scrapbook, take pictures, collage, knit, rebuild an engine, sculpt, dance, decorate, act, sing- it doesn't matter. As long as we're creating we're cultivating meaning."

I'm thinking, this might just be the answer to my question of "what exactly do you do when you retire?" I need to "create" and cultivate meaning! I figure this blog counts as creating (you might have noticed I got a wild hair and changed the format) and I plan on referring to the quote for more inspiration. However, I'm pretty sure I won't be rebuilding an engine. I'll just say that right up front.

I'll leave you with this little bit of creativity for today.

Purple petunias in a pink pig on a porch.

That's it for now.
Check back later!