Learning to Live Retired

This is a bonus post, in addition to the one about surviving domestic abuse as a child. I wake up every morning feeling lucky, now that I’m retired. Well, actually, I’m fully engaged in my Now-Career, which involves writing, speaking, blogging and teaching, but it’s a choice rather than a necessity, and I can make my own hours. So I still call myself retired. But anyway…

Because of certain aspects of my history, and certain health issues, such as a cyst on my eye, I am forced to meditate and relax on a regular basis. One way to do this is to swim. Another is to put a warm compress on my eye and lie on the sofa for ten minutes, twice daily. It’s actually quite restful.

I think we are now doing repair after having been middle-aged and working so hard. Our tendency is to continue this pace due to habit and maybe even guilt. My friends and I tend to fill up our time but there isn’t any need, so why not rethink that? Although I happen to believe that pursuing a dream, which for me is writing, falls under the heading of damage repair or resting.

Just remember, if you have money or time, you tend to spend it all. In my humble opinion. So be on guard against that.

And now, to prove I do have a domestic side, here is my recipe for Gazpacho Soup. A great way to use up leftover veggies. The secret is to add catsup, and if it seems a bit bland after completion, that’s by design, because you never know how the veggies will flavor it. So thrown in some more garlic salt, or Lawry’s Seasoning Salt, or whatever you think it needs.