Getting Ready
As I prepare to start the journey into my ninth decade, later this year, it will be interesting to see what I take with me. Because you always have to pack for any journey, but especially a personal one. Sometimes it’s things, sometimes it’s people, but the heaviest baggage is usually personal. For instance, after I left active duty in the Navy and decided to attend college in the late 60s, I made the choices to move off (to Florida) and try to be more outgoing. They worked. I got my feet on the ground and gained self-confidence.
Things aren’t as clearcut today. I’m unencumbered, just as I was back in the day, but at that point it was all about the future and things I needed to do to ensure it. It’s still about the future, but I’m not building any foundations this time. I’m just trying to figure out how I’d like to live, and maybe where. The latter has come up a time or two, but with no real clarity, and doesn’t feel like a pressing issue. The big driver is more personal, and one appealing path is a move into a more monastic lifestyle, one of contemplation and reflection.
Basically, I think I want to slow down and move with a bit more purpose. It’s easy to rush from pillar to post and think you’re doing something when all you’re really doing is killing time. That certainly served a purpose in the wake of my wife’s death, and there’s nothing I regret and a lot to celebrate, but this feels like a different time requiring a different approach. It will be interesting to see what develops in the coming months because I have a lot to think about.