This week my Iphone 6 Plus slipped off the stove top on to the throw carpet on top of the kitchen floor. I was in the middle of a phone call and picked it up. It looked like someone had taken an ice pick and jammed it into the the home button. I spent the afternoon researching replacing the glass and ended up paying $140 to do so.
It is grey outside this week, wet and cooler than expected. My writing on my bike trip manuscript isn’t going as well as it was. I’m still sitting down everyday and writing but the enthusiasm isn’t as strong as when I started. The floors keep getting dirty and needing to be vacuumed and swept. The desk table gets cluttered up again and again.
It’s been a year since I retired. I do not miss the feeling of working against a wall that makes its so hard to do what needs to be done. I don’t miss the power politics. I do miss the everyday routine. The pleasure of having a cup of coffee and saying my good mornings and then getting to work, the rhythm of the day with a cast of characters, some friendlier than others. I do miss my closest colleagues whose offices I could pop into for a quick chat. I do miss the array of students whose questions I could answers and whose problems I could often easily fix. I do miss the purpose that my work gave me.
There is not lack of things to do, but there isn’t that overarching main idea that my work and raising children gave me.
I do not regret retiring but I am still working on this new part of my life.
Cycling into the future 
Retirement comes easier to some than others. Retiring from a fulfilling career vs a job (as I did) is far more difficult because it does in fact leave a bigger void. But I believe you are well on your way with your trip blog, your manuscript, and your active involvement in many aspects of the Athens cycling community. You have actually packed a lot in a short period of time.Well done.
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Thanks, Diane. I appreciate your support and friendship so much.
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I can definitely relate to what you are saying even though my experience is somewhat different. My children and their activities gave my life the structure you speak of and I miss it. I don’t miss the frenetic pace that I see most parents try to maintain these days but I do miss the gatherings of mother’s and children, the camaraderie of the soccer sidelines,Mother’s Center ,and the myriad of family-friendly activities to choose from each weekend. It feels a little lonely at times. Thankfully I am self-employed and so I don’t have to deal with an office of people.I must admit though that there are days when I am not working and I feel at loose ends with what to do to make that time meaningful. Sometimes it is just sitting still and gazing at the incredible blue of my delphiniums for an hour, other times it is cleaning my house. I have the absolute hardest time letting myself do something like pick up my paints however and I struggle with how to make that happen. It’s hard to be ok with just being instead of doing. I feel ya Carol.
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That’s exactly what I was thinking yesterday, Debbie, about the struggle of just being vs doing. I’d really love to just be good at just being and then add some doing to that being, if you know what I mean.
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I do!
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You are our community, Carol. You are our purpose and our purpose is you. That is, you continue to encourage personally and through your blog. Thank you, Carol!
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A small community but I’ll keep it up.
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Like you, Carol, it’s been a year since retirement for me too. Even though I still fill some of my days filled with teaching yet, the “just being” versus “doing” is hard. Because I do have significantly more time, I find myself at times going “what’s next”? Additionally, each semester has looked totally different than the previous, i.e., no set schedule, different classes, different colleges, etc.,….so, I am still trying to figure out my new normal. Sharing in your new journey, starting with the cross country bike feat, and European trip, and manuscript writing striggle;, all has been a constant encouragement and inspiration for me. Thank you for continuing to share! SL
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