Now that I’m out of the workforce and not seeing work colleagues every day, I’m feeling it. Collective loneliness: it’s loneliness from not being part of a group that’s working towards a common goal, according to Dr Marisa G. Franco*. Working in a large school (1400 students), the colleagues that I saw daily were the… Continue reading Missing Friends And Connection.
Category: Emotional journey
Difficult Emotions And Toxic Positivity
I find it one of the hardest things to do, to just sit with uncomfortable emotions. I want to talk about them and fix them. I look for a way to make these feelings go away. I really need to work on sitting and observing them. Toxic Positivity. The belief that everything should be rosy… Continue reading Difficult Emotions And Toxic Positivity
I Named My Inner Critic
I gave my inner critical voice a name* and it’s made such a difference. I thought about her personality and what she would look like. For me, she’s an older nosy-neighbour type who always thinks she knows best. I chose a name for her that isn’t a name that I have encountered very often in… Continue reading I Named My Inner Critic
Building On and Moving On
“She failed retirement,” laughed a retired work colleague as she spoke about her partner. Her partner had tried to retire for a year or so but was lured back to work in a job that used some of the skills she had developed from a career in education. It wasn’t the same job that she… Continue reading Building On and Moving On
Find The Funny.
A Personal Lesson. Humour is essential to surviving the sad and difficult times in life and he understood that implicitly. Maybe it was surviving the Blitz in Coventry as a child, and surviving childhood TB, that formed his sense of humour? He enjoyed finding the humour in people’s everyday actions. He often poked fun at himself… Continue reading Find The Funny.
Being Kind To My Mind
Do I ruminate when I resist getting out of bed? I was listening to a well-known mental health personality the other day and she recommended the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown to get out yourself out of bed in the morning and prevent rumination. Being retired now, and having the time to think and write, I started to… Continue reading Being Kind To My Mind
Some days are hard.
“You Can’t Use Up Creativity, the More You Use the More You Have” – Maya Angelou. Some days are hard. They are tires spinning on ice. Days when I can’t find the ideas that stick and want to be written about. Nothing jumps up and shouts, “Me, me!” The ideas remain just out of grasp,… Continue reading Some days are hard.
I’m a happier sandwich
I’m a happier sandwich since I retired. I can support my family with something more important than money. I have time. The Sandwich Generation (ages 45 -64) provides the majority of care to older adults and it can range from 5 -30 hours per week*. Now that I’m retired, I have the time to care… Continue reading I’m a happier sandwich
Speed Of Life
“Efficiency isn’t always the goal. Do you want to live your life in half the time it takes the average person?” – a comic titled The Type A, Rhymes With Orange 2/24/2010. 13 years ago I cut out this comic when I was so super-busy with work and family that retirement was a far off… Continue reading Speed Of Life
Goals Make Me Happy
When I was working, my goals were aligned with what I wanted to achieve for my students and in my teaching practice. They gave my days purpose and direction. As a retired person, I find that I need to set goals to give me a sense of purpose. Now, my goals are purely personal and… Continue reading Goals Make Me Happy
Retired, And Now What? 