Smooth Move

You have to start somewhere and thinking about starting isn’t the same as diving in.“

I’ve noticed that there are different approaches to being retired and those with the side gig seem to have the smoothest transition. I am not one of those and because you are reading this, I expect that you are not one either. 

I have friends, who while they were working, had active side gigs that they were passionate about. They were single or without dependents and were able, just about, to balance their passion with a full-time job.  As they got older and their energies naturally dropped, they found it more and more difficult to run from their paying job to the more-fulfilling side gig such as playing in a band or orchestra. A work colleague would regularly rush out of school to drive downtown just in time to attend a rehearsal or play a performance, eating in the car or during a break. They are enjoying a more balanced life now and playing music is their retirement focus: a smooth transition. Besides musicians, do you know anyone who has made their side gig their retirement focus?

As a person with full-time work and family responsibilities, I didn’t have a side gig. There was no energy left to even develop ideas, let alone time to pursue them regularly. Now that I’m retired, I am overwhelmed by all the possibilities, and by the realization that I’d have to start from the bottom again no matter what I choose. Or do I?

Being retired is a new stage of life not unlike graduating from school. It’s scary and it’s hard to know what the next step is. But there are also very important differences between my twenty-something self and my retired self. I am privileged to have a pension. Making enough money to live on is not top of mind. Now fulfillment takes the lead. My younger self had very little life experience and now I have buckets of skills from a 30+ year teaching career. Even though I don’t intend to do anything directly involved with education in my retirement (no supply teaching for me), those skills are still valid moving into retirement. I’m diving in with my communication skills in this blog.

Let’s chat:

You have skills from your career also. Which ones did you enjoy using and would you continue to use now?