I’ve been known to say, “Wow, that’s a big change” when the reality is it’s a series of cascading smaller changes. You might ask, “Why does this even matter?” Perhaps it doesn’t. Yet for me, it’s easier to get my mind around the bigger picture if I begin by looking at the smaller changes which went into it — perhaps providing a (usually false) sense of control or at least an awareness of the why(s).
So where is this going? As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Bonnie and I find ourselves in the midst of a series of cascading changes in the process of creating our “Life 2.5.” One such change is where we want to live.
Fortunately we have the ability to take some time figuring this all out — we know we’re lucky in that regard.
Among our conversations is the inevitable end. Hey, we’re all going to die folks — I hope I didn’t spoil the ending for anyone! Recently we asked each other if one of us was to die would the other one want to stay where we are currently living, the response from both of us was an absolute NO! And so why are we here?
Deciding on our current location was a practical decision — close to work and the bones of the house are good. We’ve kept ourselves busy and satisfied updating the house to make it more comfortable, to make it our own.
But jobs end and we’re preparing to move into the next act of our lives — Life 2.5. Our current location no longer fits into that. Perhaps only a mindset, but what we initially thought of as a hardship, i.e. the loss of a job, has now become an opportunity — we are no longer bound by that particular chain.
It has become a liberating process to discuss and explore our values, our wants and how all that fits with opportunities for growth and fulfillment — we’d had similar discussions before in our lives, but not with this type of freedom. Of course we’ll have some resource restrictions coming into play, but for initial discussions everything is on the table, including considering other countries, or other states. There are many stories of people who found that special “what,” however impractical it may have seemed at the time, and then they did the work to make the “how” happen. We don’t want to be afraid to do that — while freely admitting there are and will be scary times ahead!
When we land this Life 2.5 location, the question of “if one of us was to die would the other one want to stay there” must be a resounding “YES” for both of us to move this forward.
Bonnie just asked me if I knew that writing these posts was therapeutic — one of my ways of processing all of this. Of course I do, the Meandering Passage Blog has been therapeutic since 2006. :-)
The photos are from people watching in Spain. They were processed to black and white in Silver Efex and then a little split toning added in Lightroom.
What a great post, Earl and a great question. Losing jobs, to most folks, would seem like a “bad” thing. I’ve learned not to label things so quickly, if at all, because it all depends on how you look at it. Now, you’ve turned that job loss into opportunity to move on in your life, to a place where you and Bonnie really want to be, not just a place of convenience. That’s fantastic.
I love this particular Taoist story about good news, bad news, who’s to say … :) http://www.the-benefits-of-positive-thinking.com/positive-taoist-story.html
I look forward to reading your thoughts as you think about making your decisions about what’s next.
Paul, thanks! As things progress I’ll probably continue my therapeutic writing here…and maybe that’s good news or bad news…who’s to say! ;-)
Appreciate the comment!
When i lost my job back in 2003 I spent a year and a half traveling, part of that on a motorcycle. I think of it as a short retirement period. It was well worth it to me. At times I wish I had some of the money now but I’d probably spend it in travel just like I did then. I would venture to say your writing is therapy for your readers also.
Monte, I’m sure you’d never truly regret that year and a half you took — like the saying goes, “I do not regret the things I’ve done, but those I did not do.” Writing here is certainly therapeutic for me and I’d have to think there are many baby boomers facing similar situations. I appreciate your visits, views and comments.
Ah yes, deciding where to live once there are no ties binding us to any particular place is worth considering with care. I have asked myself this question a few times already even though I am a few years off having to make such a decision. For me there are two issues I must resolve. The first (as you’ve mentioned) is location and the second is the style or type of dwelling. On the first I’m confident that my wife and I would reach an agreement. On the second, well, that’s highly doubtful. And if history is anything to go by, we will have to compromise; meaning she will pick what she likes and I’ll go along with it ;)
By the way, the photos are brilliant, especially the last two. When I first looked at the old man shot I got distracted by the fact that the word “Restaurant” had been cut off (it’s not a criticism, I just notice these things as they usually annoy me in my own photos), but then I was enchanted to see that in the last photo the first part of that word was visible. Totally made my day that these two photos should be tied together in such a subtle manner. If you think that’s weird of me allow me to make it weirder. When I scrolled back from the bottom photo to the middle one, I noticed the name of the restaurant which made me think of the immaculate conception which in turn brought me back to the top photo of the nuns. Perhaps this was all intentional on your part or perhaps it is simply a coincidence. More likely is that I need some help from a psychiatrist. Though that could solve the predicament of where to live in retirement; I may just end up in a cuckoo’s nest :)
I think…I hope Bonnie and I will both agree on location and style/type of dwelling. If not the fall back would probably be the same type of compromise you described — I think that’s a global commonality. :-)
Thanks on the photos! Here’s the story behind the links you noticed.
The middle and last photos — cutting off things in the background annoy’s me as well but I often forget to check the background in shots such as this and the first part of “Restaurant” was missing. Seeing the same word in the third shot I cropped the third photo as published, thinking no one would probably notice or comment on the two parts of “Restaurant” but I had a story about it ready.
On the first photo, I had a couple of images I was considering, I like things in threes, and I kept coming back to the nuns for reasons I can’t explain. The connection you pointed out with the middle photo blows me away — I didn’t conciously notice that link and I won’t claim I’m anywhere near that clever — you however get 5 Gold Stars for being so observant, Cedric!
My wife and I have talked about this on occasion. Although we are further away from retirement than you lucky folks already there, we have talked about how we will probably have had enough of Michigan winters by then. Interesting that we seem to revisit this discussion nearly every February. :-)
Great question to ponder Earl. I am keeping notes on your decisions here – who knows – maybe you will do all the hard stuff and I’ll have it all laid out for me by just reading your blog. :-)
Mark, I’m not shocked relocation is a popular mid-winter subject there in Michigan, but you might be surprised we have discussed some locations north so as to have four seasons and a cooler/less humid summer.
We’re probably not going to resolve this question quickly…and because of this decisions importance we want to take the time needed. It’s interesting the feedback we’ve gotten with some of the friends we’ve shared a little of our thoughts with on relocating. Some immediately have said good for you, it’s about time and make sure you have an extra room so we can visit while others struggle to understand even the basics of what’s driving this and cautions safety and prudence above all.
I’ll probably blog those major pondering moments and any notes you keep may be about what not to do more so then what to do! :-)
Thanks