mcurtt

2018-09_September-TLP_AJ_4Week_Explore-Purpose_web

2018-09_September-TLP_AJ_4Week_Explore-Purpose_web
mcurtt, Sep 27, 2018
Description:
Credits: Paula Kesselring - Photograph. Lynne Marie - Photogenic. Rachel Jefferies - Mixed Media Artistry M3 Sept 2018. Etc by Danyale - Clarity.

And for those who want to read the journaling...
Find my purpose - Almost anti-climactic for me. Here I am at the ripe young age of 65, just retired from my position as an analyst at the hospital, my employer for the last 45 years, and now I have to find my purpose??? Oh man! Where do I even begin? It isn’t that I’ve been actively looking for my purpose, growing up I was always into the detail of things. I remember being a kid, no more than 8 years old, falling in love with rocks. Picking them up, bringing them home, washing them with soap and water and a toothbrush, mounting them on cardboard and classifying and cataloguing them. Now what normal 8 year old does that? I moved on from rocks, to postcard collecting. Alphabetizing them by state, by country, learning about their location by pouring through the old-fashioned Encyclopaedia Britannica my parents had bought for us kids. It seems that everything I chose to do was detail-oriented. I was not the visionary, I got bogged down in the details. But give me a path, give me an idea and I would find the way to get there. It worked well for me in being an analyst. My job was drowning in details with me making sense of it all, discovering that path to normalcy where all of the staff could follow. My boss was the idea man, he wouldn’t care if it could happen, because he believed that if he shared his end goal with me, I’d make it happen. My purpose? Perhaps. And now that I’ve been retired for not quite four weeks, it is a bit too premature for me to delve into my psyche and find my purpose. I hope it has already found me. Gone are the years of creating logic, writing processes for staff, testing software and the burn-out that resulted from too much stress. Now I hope to find time to play, even if it is cataloging my thimbles, my collection of 3000+ thimbles, where I just ran out of time several years ago to document them. Maybe my purpose will be to learn to love housecleaning? Heaven forbid, after 45 years of neglect, maybe I can revel in a squeaky clean house. Maybe my purpose will be to keep in touch with friends, send them a note, remind them that I still care about them and value their friendship. I don’t have to save the world, my purpose can be extremely selfish, catering to my needs, to my wants, to my desires. I have noticed that John and I are having more fun together these past few weeks. Maybe my purpose is to perpetuate that fun, experience the newness of a relationship that has rediscovered itself. Whatever my purpose is, I’m doing it. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
    • SharLamb
      Awesome story and gorgeous page (love the blending and grunginess). I just turned 72 and finding that my DH and I are having more and more fun together too. High five!
      Sep 27, 2018
      mcurtt likes this.
    • HappyMamacita
      I love your layout and story. I retired from the Department of Justice, so I could go as early as age fifty or after twenty-five years of service. Lucky for me, they were both in tandem. I love retirement. My “purpose” shifts and evolves...and slips out of my hands...and falls into my lap...and...and...
      Sep 27, 2018
      mcurtt likes this.
    • mcurtt
      @HappyMamacita What was holding me back from retiring early was the insurance or lack of it. Now I qualify for Medicare (oh, no!). My former employer is not one who offers insurance to their retirees as a benefit... I'm not claiming social security until next year, I tell my DH that we are going to just live on love. LOL! I still don't feel retired, I think I'm on an extended vacation. I'm sure that will pass one of these days.
      Sep 27, 2018
      HappyMamacita likes this.
    • mcurtt
      Sep 27, 2018
      SharLamb likes this.
    • Sokee
      Beautiful layout! First congratulations on your retirement! And it is time you get to do exactly what you want, you may find it changes from time to time but that is okay too! Just remember fun times are ahead if you allow them!
      Sep 27, 2018
      mcurtt likes this.
    • Cherylndesigns
      I absolutely love what you've created, Marilyn. We have so much in common. I was in love with rocks as a kid, too. I still love them. I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a kid. I don't know why I gave that up. I know you and John are going to have (quality) time together now and that sounds just wonderful. I just know that you'll enjoy whatever you choose to do with your retirement. Maybe you can start rock collecting again. :)
      Sep 27, 2018
      mcurtt likes this.
    • mcurtt
      @Cherylndesigns I did take a couple of geology courses in college. I had seriously thought about being an archaeologist too, but that was in college! Kindred spirits for sure. :heartslub
      Sep 27, 2018
      Cherylndesigns likes this.
    • Cherylndesigns
      @mcurtt I believe we are, Marilyn. :bk:bk
      Sep 27, 2018
    • HappyMamacita
      @mcurtt that’s how I felt...like I was on an extended vacation. Since I worked law enforcement for the government, I had the opportunity to continue or decline health care. I feel very fortunate for being able to retire “early” and having health care.
      Sep 28, 2018
      mcurtt likes this.
    • wvsandy
      Really love how you have used photos of yourself in all of these LOs this month! Your journaling is assume! Enjoy this process of rediscovering yourself! :hammock
      Sep 28, 2018
      mcurtt likes this.
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    Date:
    Sep 27, 2018
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