Tag Archives: Urge to Purge

The Last Chapter: Retirement Reset

Retirement Journey: Part II

“You cannot give your life more time, so give your time more life.”  — Unattributed

“Instead of a human doing, I want to be a human being.” — Retirement Aspiration

A Look Back at the Year

As a person in recovery, at the end of the day, I often take a daily inventory, a review of the day to assess my successes and missteps. I ask if there are amends to be made, and how I can do better moving forward. On this eve of the New Year and my 76th birthday in January, I continue to be a work in progress.

At the end of each year, like many others on the eve of the New Year, I look back at the highlights and lowlights — the gains and the losses — the hellos and goodbyes.

For this blog, I often write a year-in- review. Full disclosure: I’m sometimes a bit snarky in response to the holiday letters people send this time of year, yet I must admit, this is my version. I understand why it’s important to review one’s year, to celebrate wins and acknowledge losses, and if one chooses, to share with loved ones and friends. A lot happens in a day, a year, and a life. Continue reading

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Urge to Purge: Rightsizing

“I have a notion that if you are going to be spiritually curious, you better not get cluttered up with too many material things.” — Mary Oliver

“Having a simplified uncluttered, home is a form of self-care.” — Emma Scheib

First, I confess, as a 75-year-old person who lives alone, I’m a cliché. Like many others of my generation, I spent years accumulating material things along with lived experiences, yielding a collection of stuff and memories. Today, the latter has value, the former not so much. As I look ahead to my remaining years, I want to simplify, downsize, let go of things, and rightsize my life.

Current Status

For the past year I’ve been dreaming of the possibility of living in a tiny home or accessory dwelling unit (ADU) for the last chapter of my life. A year ago, our family childhood home was sold after the death of our father, our remaining parent, and the last keepsakes and ephemera I wanted to save made a home with me. Before I could begin to consider living in a tiny home, I had to address the elephant in the rooms, too much stuff! Continue reading

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