I have been away for a bit. After retiring I’ve been trying to find my sea legs. It’s interesting having so much free time and the guilt associated with exploring my own interests. I always ask myself, what is the end game, how can this activity become an untapped second career. Now I realize that maybe that isn’t meant to be. Maybe it’s okay to just lean into and enjoy new found hobbies.

I was getting ready for my golf lesson today and noticed a book on my shelf. It’s one I’ve always meant to read. It is Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, Instructions on Writing and Life. I picked it up and thumbed through it. The chapter that I randomly selected was called School Lunches. In this chapter, she gives advise to her writing students to write about their elementary or junior high school lunches, apparently after they discuss this idea their creative juices begin to flow. Maybe it is the shared experience that all of us are able to conjure up from the depths of our memories. Such a brief encounter and it made me feel like taking a few minutes to write about it this morning. I don’t have any strong memories of my school lunches but I think this strengthens my belief that there is some tap root of happiness lying dormant in the brain waiting to be awoken.

I think there was a log stuck in my creative log shoot for a bit and this seems to have dislodged it. It’s time to throw that guilt aside and enjoy every minute of these new hobbies. A friend once told me to figure out what I wanted in retirement and it was to spread joy and happiness to others. I hope this triggered some memories and joy for you.

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