I’m wondering just how long it will be until my body, mind and soul catch up to the reality of being retired?

Work is a Hard Habit to Break

How long until I don’t worry about items left undone, e-mails left unanswered?
How long before my shoulders drop away from my ears and my body relaxes?
How long before the serenity of leisure seeps into my soul and serenity takes over?

I know that outside circumstances don’t automatically make me happy, or peaceful, or relaxed.  I also know that I’ve only been finished with work since Friday evening, and that the frenzy of trying to tie up as many loose ends as I could before leaving has left me with a kind of hangover.

As probably all retirees know, leaving the workforce isn’t like turning off a switch.

As you can see from the photo above, my desk is no longer littered with a work computer and associated monitor and external hard-drive (and all the cords that go with it).  I no longer have to maintain binders filled with training courses taken or procedural instructions and I also emptied my drawers of no-longer-needed files folders with documentation of what I’ve done or what I need to do.  My desk isn’t cluttered with notes from meetings or to-do lists or phone messages.

I’m only understanding now that I miss the busy-ness of work, but I don’t miss the work itself.  I like being busy…feeling occupied…useful.

The transition to being occupied with activities that I enjoy and find satisfying will be a wonderful change, so the clean desk is a sign of hope and opportunity for me.

Thanks to all for the well wishes on retirement.

Current Knitting

During my last week of work, I did very little knitting.  I was busy all day on-site at the office in Schenectady, and busy most nights saying good-bye to friends and coworkers.

I have finished two hats since the last blog entry and I’ve started a new biased scarf.

I’m hopeful to be able to bang out 10 more of the West Coast Watchcaps, so I have a full inventory at my first craft show.  I’d also like to have a few other hats to display and sell…more traditional hats, perhaps with pompoms.

We’ll see how far I get with that.