Friday, July 8, 2011

Obsessions and Life!

I think I am finally at the point where my "hobbies" are my life and that is just fine with me. I am reflecting some today, because yesterday two friends told me they are retiring. Both are knitters, and one plans to get into her weaving more and the other plans to get into her spinning more.

My advice is there is no advice. I wake up every morning and then have to decide what day it is in the "real" world outside my little sphere of being. I go through morning chores, and then I decide what has to be done today. Then again, all that can change when someone calls me and says, "Can you come over and help me with ........?" So then I stop and go and come back and my focus is off and then I may just sit down and knit for a while.

I find I don't have to do laundry more than once a week. There is more laundry in the summer because I do yard work and I do change my clothes more often. I have enough underwear so I don't have to stop and do a load of wash just to have clean undies. I still remember when I had to do a quick laundry of clothes for work because suddenly I realized at 10 pm that the pants or shirt I needed was dirty. Or that I was needing something that was not in the closet and sure enough, it is in the laundry basket.

Also, if you are eating lunch in front of the tv, you can watch that show in the middle of the day. No more having to tivo something to watch "when I can".

With no husband (or significant other) or children, I can spread my stuff out all over the place. I can put the blocking board out on the guest bed and leave it until the knitted piece I am blocking is dry. I can put the warping board up and count out my warp threads without worrying that someone needs me right now and I have to stop in the middle of the project.

I also don't have to cook all the time. I have stuff in the freezer that I can dig out and fix. I don't mind leftovers, either. If I have something a second day, it's still good. Then the rest can go into the freezer for a later showing.

Do not rush because there are no expectations. There are no rules that say you have to be up and at it by 6 am anymore. If you like getting up at 6 am and want to sit out on the deck and drink your coffee, then do so. But don't feel bad if you read that good book until 2 am and you don't get out of bed until 8 am.

Life is fun, and Life is crazy. There are always changes going on all over the place. But I don't push myself any more and I don't "have" to make choices that I used to make. I may do spinning like crazy for a week while listening to an audio book. I may decide that today is the day to finish up that afghan I am making and I will not budge except to go to the bathroom. I still like to set goals, but they are realistic goals like "I will get this done within the next two weeks."

So to my friends I say, just relax. It will all happen when it happens. Just work on the small stuff for a while before settling into the big stuff. You are going to enjoy the freedom of providing yourself your own entertainment.

Best of luck, and good health to both of you. Have a good beginning of the next phase of your life.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Love it! Thanks...p