A New Phase of Retirement?!

At the end of the month, I will be marking 11 years of retirement from full-time teaching. Time has flown by...

I don't recall having much trouble transitioning into retirement. My mother had just had surgery, so I was kept busy driving her to post-operative appointments.

In addition, the last few months of teaching, I had no time to go through my two cabinets of teaching files, so I brought everything home. Those first cold winter months, I spent hours going through my boxes, getting rid of what I didn't think I'd need. When spring arrived, I left that basement chore.

I find it interesting that, all these years later, I am again spending time this winter down in the basement, going through things our family has accumulated over the years - as well as boxes of my mother's papers.

I'm also trying to organize things - like here, in one corner, gathering all my art supplies in one place.

(The table and chair still need a bit of work!! They haven't been used in a while.)

I wonder if all this organizing and de-cluttering will open up a new phase of retirement. 

Will I discover new interests once my home has been "simplified"? Marie Kondo comments that by getting rid of things that don't "spark joy," some have discovered what is really important to them - their true passions.

I wonder if I will be surprised by joy as well...