I was thinking recently about what my 'retired' life is all about and what my hopes, goals and dreams are and to be honest, the older I get the less I want or need. There's a big difference between 'settling' and being content and at this stage of life I am content.
I've actually never been happier but then why wouldn't I be? I have food, shelter, entertainment, wonderful companions and a very simple lifestyle. I have my blogging friends who are custom connected because of our common values and interests and for the first time in my life I can sleep without setting an alarm!
Living alone I can pretty much do what I want when I want without disturbing anyone else. I've been known to wake up at 3:00 a.m. and, feeling rested, start my day! So, the goals I have are simple but yet will require effort on my part to accomplish them. I have concluded that I am part pioneer...I truly enjoy making do with less, making everything I can from scratch and doing many mundane tasks. Crazy? Maybe, but it has given me much peace and tranquility in my life.
When I had my little farm it was called Serenity Acres but it was anything but serene as I was working full time, on call, my family was leaving, even my husband, and I was juggling a million balls in the air....until I got sick and they all came tumbling down.....on my head! LOL! It was a 7 year exodus from my life as I knew it and lots of heartache and loss and illness but when I look back now it forced me to recreate the life I have now which I love.
I came to love myself instead of waiting for others to appreciate me, I came to a spiritual awakening that led to a close relationship with my God....which may be different from yours but which enables me to be alone but never lonely.
So, you ask, where is all this leading to? My realization that all I really want now is a 'hand crafted' life for as long as I can sustain it. My interests are many but they all involve doing things from scratch, making do with what I have (as much as possible) but also taking advantage of some conveniences so I do not harm myself. This last RA bout, I couldn't open my garage door because it is broke and I have been opening it manually for about 5 years now. Also, I think I will get the dryer fixed as I couldn't get down the basement stairs with a basket of wet clothes in my arms and I couldn't mow my yard.....so, I may be getting some conveniences and some help while at the same time freeing myself up to sew my own wardrobe, make my own cheese, do some carpentry around here and decorating and learn some new skills to enable me to remain independent and healthy and financially solvent.
I still want to move to Hanover.....my home town where I grew up.........
I'd still like an old farm house out in the country to fix up...............
but while I will continue to work towards those things, I will also continue to enjoy every minute I
have left on this planet and hopefully share that joy with others!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone and remember, "it's a great life if you don't weaken"!
Happy Trails!!!
Happy Trails!!!
Amen, sister. I applaud your tenacity.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marsha...you are a dear friend.
DeleteI love your upbeat post; that embroidered "you are loved" is especially sweet. I am retired too and it is great to rarely set my alarm, I agree.
ReplyDeleteThank you Terra....yes, I would love to embroider a piece like that.....we all need to be reminded.
DeleteOh, how I love this post. It resonates deep in my soul. If I could talk Hubby into it, I would sell our big house and either live in the trailer or buy something tiny. I don't want all of the "stuff" anymore. I just want a simple life. As I'm able to become more mobile again, I would love to start doing things from scratch like I used to. Sometimes I feel with my back those days will never happen. You give me so much encouragement and help every time I read your blog. This one is especially dear to me. Thank you for taking the time to write it and share your feelings and your heart. As for the zucchini at the lake, the deer haven't bothered it at all! I have no idea why, there are deer here all of the time. Have a lovely weekend my sweet friend.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Betsy
Thank you so much, Betsy. I wasn't sure when I wrote this post if I should press 'publish' or if people would think I was on my soap box or sharing too much so I really appreciate your comment! I'm pretty private but then I heard someone say that if we don't share ourselves with others...the good and the bad.....it makes it difficult to connect with others. I do believe we all have 'trials and tribulations' in our lives and thus the even greater need for us to be compassionate with each other. I'm not a victim nor do I like self-pity...not attractive! LOL! But I think we need to acknowledge our humanness (is that a word?) and always give others the benefit of the doubt. Your comment meant the world to me! Hugs ~ Sam
DeleteWhat a thoughtful, insightful post, Sandra. You are amazing. I love all of the JPEG's you put in this post. You will reach that goal of living in your hometown.
ReplyDeleteWhile I still live in an urban area, it's much quieter here. I feel peaceful most of the time as I'm in my own little world away from the city. I feel I don't have to be "on" all the time like I used to. We are living with less but are still blessed and happy in our little home.
And thank you for your wonderful, triple visits! How lucky I am. I loved The Outsiders and I believe there are NO cuss words in it; what a genius S.E. Hinton is; I had forgotten to mention she was in high school herself when she wrote it!
Thank you, Stefanie....I had to laugh as I was trying to catch up with your posts and I kept hitting the back arrow instead of the forward and I kept thinking....gee, this post looks familiar....I finally got the hang of it! I think you have a wonderful family with your emphasis on what is truly important and I pray you are always blessed.
DeleteSam my soul sister!!! :))) (sorry for the long comment!)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this post! I actually got all teary-eyed. We ARE very similar as you've pointed out!! That Pooh and Piglet...that is Alex and me lol...we never have a clue what day it is unless we look at our computers...well, we know when it's the weekend because of the loud people! We tell time by the pets who always remind us when it's meal time...on the dot! :)
You know, at age 33, I had a forced retirement after burning out, and I was resentful. I WANTED to work and it took me years to realize I NEEDED to heal and that I was LUCKY to have my disability income. I am SO appreciative of having my days to myself now. I can and DO enjoy living on less and having a handmade/homegrown life as much as possible. In fact, I was just thinking that this winter I will start sewing again. I've relied too much on buying clothes and always being disappointed. I used to make all of my own clothes and it's time to get back to that wonderful hobby.
I'm content as well! But like you, I still want to find my ideal location and home, but that WILL come with time. As long as I have Alex, the fur-kids and my Blogger friends, my gosh am I happy! And because I'm a recluse like you are, I don't really have any "real life" friends, neither does Alex, we like it that way, I love our Blogging community, they are all nice, wonderful and inspiring people, not a nasty among them! :) And any nasties simply get deleted, isn't that nice? ;) Alex often tells me that he only needs and wants me in his life, and I feel the same way. Talk about soul mates huh? But when I was alone all those years (18 in total), I spent the first 10 healing and recuperating. After that I felt like I had to re-learn how to live and I found my own spirituality - which is more Nature-based. This gave me a peaceful feeling and being alone was fine. I was never lonely. But one day I wanted to see what it would be like to have someone in my life for the first time! I'd dated in my teens, but I never had a serious relationship until Alex. I haven't felt lonely in a long time. That is a nice feeling and I'm glad you've found it in your own way!
I think I'm part pioneer as well. I do enjoy indoor plumbing and electricity though. :) So I'll never be a total pioneer gal but Alex and I are definitely moving towards being much more reclusive and self-sufficient. He is working from home so we can live anywhere and he can choose how much or how little he wants to work. It makes our lives so much more free and we both enjoy each other and what we have, even though it's less than others have, we feel richer! :) And it gives us time to have the hand-crafted lifestyle that we so enjoy.
We had a friend when we lived in the city. He was making 200k a year, condo, wife, kids, 2 cars, vacations...always in terrible debt, always stressed out. He became jealous of us when he came to visit, saying he wished he could have our lifestyle but that he wanted his material life too much to give it up. He would make little jibes that Alex should find a "real" job and that we should have a "nicer" car....he would always apologize after, saying it was just him being jealous, but we kind of purposely lost touch with him. We've found our happiness and we don't allow any negativity to disturb it. I think that discovering how you truly want to live...that's a gift that lots of people never have been given! We're lucky aren't we? :)
I've mentioned my age, I'm 49. Alex is 29. The future isn't set. So even though I have him to rely on, we both have talked about making things easy as we age. When we find our home, we're going to fix it up too - but to our liking and to make it easy and functional. I think that's very important to feel comfy as the bones start creaking lol...
Sending hugs and hygge to you Sam! Life is truly wonderful when you find your serenity! :))
Oh, Rain...thank you so much for your reply. I will come back to it and reread it, I know. Sometimes it isn't easy to write what you truly feel but you are also right in saying that our blog friends are The Best!!!! I hope we always stay in touch and I am so happy for you and Alex and me too! We are the lucky ones! Hugs and Hygge back at you!
DeletePS: I wrote a post about the question you had re: the cheese mold: Cheese Mold
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm going to read it right now!
DeleteA lovely post, Sam. So interesting and so heart warming too....love your quotes and the wonderful sense of serenity you have now in your way of living. Happy weekend to you lovely lady. xox
ReplyDeleteThank you, Helen....you are a balm to my spirit and your blog posts give me lots of serenity! Hugs and lots of love!
Delete