Reflections on the Ripening of Retirement

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray. – Rumi

The life you live is the lesson you teach. – author unknown

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven in the lives of others. – Pericles

These three quotes were sent to me by friends when I retired, and they have become foundational to living into my retirement curriculum

It’s now almost a full six months since I retired; half a year cycle of deepening my spiritual practice, anchoring more firmly in friendships, spending precious time in nature, expanding horizons through good books, plays, films, concerts, and good conversations about them.

My major de-cluttering of files isn’t quite the “death cleaning” Susan Moon speaks of in Alive Until You’re Dead but I have had a chance to recollect wonderful people I’ve met, students and sponsors, teaching clinicians in places as diverse as Jerusalem, Istanbul, Sydney, New York, and San Mateo, CA (And recover 15 reams of computer paper printed on one side; I can now re-print on the other.)

Feeling the poignancy of a second round of check-ins with former clients. Good people doing very good work, and a quiet pride for me in how good that work was.

As I quiet my way of engaging with the world, I’m choosing to continue posting the Resources for Recovering Resilience e-newsletters, but on a reduced schedule. Beginning January 5, 2023, posting weekly on Thursdays, archiving everything on the website for easy and free access. I’ve archived 130 newsletters, 550 resources and practices, and 360 weekly quotes over the last 14 years. An abundant library of perspective and practices on – the original banner tile – Healing and Awakening into Aliveness and Wholeness.

And I do trust that the life I’ve lived/lessons I’ve taught have been woven in the hearts of others in some rather miraculous ways. Whatever pulls in the future, it will be anchored in love and gratitude.