Four Years!

I retired from teaching four years ago. During my first month of retirement, I sorted through materials I had brought home from school, culling and throwing away quite a few boxes of papers... But I couldn't bear to part with it all, so into a basement filing cabinet the rest went... in case I ever needed it. (And I never did!)

I read somewhere that one de-cluttering one's life sometimes involved giving up dreams or plans. I didn't plan to teach again, but I wasn't willing to give up the idea totally either.

Perhaps it was the snowstorm that kept me indoors yesterday - perhaps I sensed that all this unused STUFF was bogging me down. In any event, I want to begin some new things... so it was time to let go.

In the end, I simply asked myself: Do you ever plan to teach again?!

No! The answer was clear... So down into the basement I went, filling box after box with paper, remnants of my previous career: copies of grammar and spelling exercises, stories and research projects. Eight or nine boxes later, I had cleared everything out.

















I wish I could say that the basement looks a lot tidier. It doesn't. But the teaching files are gone!






















I feel a lot freer, ready to move on! (But it took me four years to let go!)