Wide Open Spaces In My Mind

Forgive me, readers, it’s been nearly two years since I wrote to you. Life, it seems got in the way.

Not that I was super busy, oh no. It was quiet. And then a little busy, and a little quiet. It was normal.

And I was at the end of my rope.

But that’s how life goes, right?

You don’t know you’re at the end of a rope until you’re at the end, and well, there you go.

I Retired

You may remember me talking about my long-time employer being purchased by a mega company in 2024. That mega company proceeded to essentially forget about that purchase. They promised things that were never delivered, but the paychecks kept coming.

I learned new things. I played the role of a dutiful worker and worked like a little worker bee until I couldn’t do it anymore.

Of course that’s when the mega company decided to finally trickle out delivery on those long-standing promises. But I was always already done. (Done for me is a big deal. It means utterly over it, can’t carry on, final.)

Thank goodness I figured out that I no longer carried any debt.

So I quit.

Now I’m three weeks into retirement feeling like it’s three weeks into a super-extended vacation. The only place I’ve got to go is the store to get food.

All The Possibilities

When I figured out that I could leave the 9a-5p Mon-Fri drudgery, I immediately wrote down the 1,000,000 things I’d rather be doing. It was a spectacular list and I was totally bouncing off the walls with excitement.

(I really was that excited.) (But not bouncing off the walls because that would hurt.)

Then it occurred to me that I could have done those 1,000,000 things all along. And to be fair, I’ve done a few of them. But not enough, and well, it’s kind of depressing to think that all this time has gone by and I still have 1,000,000 things I’d like to do.

So naturally, my first few weeks of retirement have been doing nothing.

Nothing is the cure for constant movement – physical, mental, spiritual. Nothing is boredom on steroids which is, in fact, not boring.

Nothing is waking up, sipping tea for hours, playing some casual games, binging YouTube videos, reading a few books. Nothing is wondering what the heck the neighbor is doing. Nothing is watering the garden at night because I no longer need to rise at the break of dawn to get to work on time.

(Even working at home, you still have to get to your desk and be present on time. And present consistently through the day.)

Nothing is doing nothing every day for two weeks and still wanting more.

Scroll Back

Scrolling through photos of the last two years, I see a trip to London, shipments of loose leaf tea, a blooming orchid, blonde brownies, a special weekend with friends, beautiful flowers, botanical gardens and so much more.

What will the next two years will bring? Watch this space because I’m sure it will evolve, just like me.

Summary

• Today’s tea: Assam Mangalam Second Flush from ChicagoTeahouse via the Tea Lovers Tea Club on Facebook. The tea offerings in this group could bankrupt me again. It’s described as a ‘toasty, strong-bodied malt,’ and it was a very satisfying morning cuppa.
• Today’s song: One Thing Leads to Another by The Fixx. Not for the political commentary (which the song is,) but rather as a life and blogging philosophy. One thing always leads to another and another and another, and thus life is interesting in the best possible way.
• Celebrate #1: Happy Birthday to my sister!!
• Celebrate #2: On the very same day, happy heavenly birthday to my friend Michelle who passed in 2022 but not before reuniting meditation friends.
• Today’s question: What’s next?