I retired January 9th 2015: one year ago today. As an anniversary, this is as good a one to recognise, if not celebrate, as any other. In modern times, when so many work in regularly scheduled jobs, that point where one decides to stop going to that job — retirement — becomes a life event, elevated to marriage, a birth … a change in role and becoming an elder.
Or may be it’s just another day and instead of rushing to finish off one’s coffee, getting showered, dressed and driving through maddening traffic, you just relax and continue to sit at the kitchen table reading the news and have another coffee and when you feel it’s time you go through the regular morning rituals.
Looking at retirement as a life event runs the risk of unreasonable expectations so I tend towards the latter, just another day; the beginning of an endless weekend, with no Monday and no inbox full of hundreds of unread messages.
Prior to retirement, I had not thought of it as a period of doing nothing, but rather one where my wife and I could determine our own use of time. General goals were anticipated; the specifics however were ambiguous. So if there was any trepidation about this move, it was the ambiguity on filling the time. In fact, I was asked several times what I planned to do. I replied with vague references to travel and photography.
Retirement started with a planned trip, down to the Gulf Coast. Beyond that, the calendar was unfilled; an open schedule. It was the outcome of this open schedule that was the surprise and the source of unanticipated pleasure. It is what I came to appreciate as the gift of time. The time to spend on things I would have rushed or postponed in the past; the time to do what we like, sometimes at a moment’s notice. This might seem selfish, but I think it depends on how the time is used; but the point is that it is up to us to decide and that is the gift.
While we did do a fair amount of travel — 4 months in total — a portion of that was towards volunteer work. Volunteering turned out to be more engaging and satisfying than I had anticipated, and a good use of time. I expect to do more next year.
At home, we completed a number of long-delayed projects, which may not be significant from a global perspective, but important to our household and may be even neighbourhood.
As for as my photography, I had laid out a fairly detailed schedule to ensure my time was well spent and my activities focused, but the travel agenda took over the schedule. Notwithstanding, I did get through a number of books languishing on my shelf and I did continue to work with film. Jay Maisel is reported to have said if you want to become a more interesting photographer become a more interesting person. That struck a note, so that’s what I’ll spend some time on. Now I just need to figure out what’s needed to become a more interesting person.
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