A Slanting Look

I’m looking out of my office window and can see from the slant in the shadows that winter is approaching and that gives me a little pang.  Goodbye to hours in the garden and basking in sunlight and hello to snuggling in front of a cozy fire. 

That sounds marvelous but the reality is that in order to stay sane I find myself needing some self-imposed structure to my day.  This includes a regular morning wakeup time, breakfast while reading my latest book and then at least 40 minutes of exercise to get me revved up for the day.  By 8 o’clock I am now ready to really start my day, first with my chicken chores and then into the office to read my mail, pay my bills and then start writing for an hour or two.  Actually snuggling by the fire doesn’t happen until later in the afternoon.

Yesterday I wrote an article which I have since scrapped because it again preached about regularity and finding hobbies but once I evaluated it I felt nauseated.  Who am I to advise anyone on how their retirement should look?  I’m still learning how to manage my own retirement and every day I am discovering new things about myself.  One of the things I have realized is that learning is one of the most valuable experiences we can have.  Learning as experience.

There’s learning about one’s self, an evaluation of our reactions, our morals and values and how we live and learn.  There is also learning about subjects whether that is a specific topic such as history or physics or abstract ideas and philosophies or a craft or hobby.  Our little grey cells need a daily workout and even a simple ah ha moment such as learning about the uses of lavender is meaningful. 

Learning, evaluating, experience. Ahh.