Don't Retire: Rewire! A list of things that energize me

I've joined a retirement group with the National Association of School Psychologists. We're meeting monthly via Zoom and at the Association's annual convention. These are school psychologists who have retired or are nearing retirement - we have had similar jobs and skill sets, and similar financial profiles - so it is reassuring and educational to participate in these meetings and hear how people are doing. At the first meeting I attended, my friend Michelle Malbey recommended a book by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners called "Don't retire: Rewire! Five steps to fulfilling work that fuels you passion, suits your personaility, and fills your pocket" (Third Edition, 2018, Alpha/Penguin Books). 

Every summer for me is like a trial run for retirement. I can set my own schedule and participate in whatever activities I want to do. But after a few weeks, I realize I need some discipline. I can't sleep til noon every day, and I can't play video games all day. My life needs to have a purpose or purposes. In fact my life has had purpose, and those purposes can continue. It's just that in retirement, I get to choose how I meet those purposes. I can choose what activities to be involved in without worrying where my next paycheck is coming from. 

The concept of "rewiring" is understanding the drivers that have propelled my work over the years; linking those drivers to activities, creating a rewired version of those activities, and creating an action plan to make it happen.

Sedlar and Miners take you through a series of exercises to identify your drivers. My drivers include:

1. Adventure (local and distant)
2. Friendship
3. Experiences
4. Mentoring
5. Having a Global perspective
6. Making a difference

My values include;

1. Adventure
2. Autonomy
3. Beauty
4. Calmness
5. Community
6. Curiosity
7. Compassion
8. Friendships
9. Justice
10. Comedy

Then, there are dream projects/activities

1. Travel around France and Spain blogging about food and experiences
2. Photography
3. Learning keyboard and fiddle
4. Comedy clubs
5. Music clubs
6. Sailing
7. Theater - acting? managing?being in the audience?
8. Driving the Trans Canada highway
9. Driving a US loop
10. Museums 
11. Mentoring
12. Creating an ADHD assessment manual for my district
13. Helping my district to earn an Exceptional Psychological Services designation from NASP

Some of these are reminders to revisit things that give me joy (I haven't picked up my fiddle since before Covid). Some are things I haven't attempted yet (I've been on sailboats - but my only experience sailing was my uncle handing me the tiller of his boat in the Gulf). Some straddle the line between being an active driver of the activity vs spectator, and for some activities, being a spectator will be just fine. 

Rewiring is a process of scheduling activities that scratch those itches. Some things can be easily scheduled short term. Others are long-term projects, and I can't do them all. I will document progress here.