Retirement

Retirement means no longer going to work everyday and getting paid by someone to do something so you can pay bills. I think it is the money that people mistake as a valid way of feeling valuable. If they were not paid, would they do the same thing with the same vigor?

I've never been able to sustain working at a job where I was miserable, or even unhappy. There is not enough money in the world to make me believe that this is the only option. Teaching preschool, working for a florist, these are simply things I loved doing that paid me money. The few short years I spent in a office couldn't pay me enough to stay, so I didn't. 

Fortunately I was able to retire fairly early in life. Retirement didn't mean much change for me. I've always done the things I loved. I loved taking care of my children, feeding them, teaching them, playing with them, introducing them to the world and hoping I was giving them what they needed to live in it.

I've always loved doing creative things. Sewing clothes for my children and myself, costumes for plays, crafts for gifts, is just one of the loves of my life. I used to love cooking and baking. I still love eating. Under the guise of parenting, I played with blocks, painted, drew pictures, rode bikes, did puzzles.

The pay I received for doing all the things I loved was getting to do it.

Retirement has only meant a little more time to do all those things I love in a way that is less stressful than it was when I had to get up early every day and go somewhere else.  I tell people I'm retired, but really I am just doing many of the same things I've always done.

I used to redecorate and rearrange my house. Now I live in an apartment, so today I spent the entire afternoon building a house with my blocks and then I furnished it and decorated it with exquisite miniatures. That is retirement!