I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed the last eight months. To have had 100% of my time to do whatever I desired was truly priceless. In particular, I’ve had time to really contemplate life without having the usual background noise. By background noise, I mean the never-ending work-related thoughts and stress. Looking back now, I realize that there was always something nagging away at me just below the surface – something nipping at my heels and never allowing me to truly relax.
Of course, it was job related. Though I didn’t see it at the time, I always had that small part of me that was thinking about my job – even on weekends and holidays. It’s such a pleasure not to have that buzzing in my head anymore. For once in my life, I can think clearly.
This past summer was incredible. Not that I did much of anything, but I enjoyed every passing moment. I spent many mornings on the bike trails that wind through the city, simply enjoying each moment as it came. I enjoyed not knowing where I would wind up, who I would meet, or what the day would bring. There were no schedules, deadlines or office politics, just me, my bicycle, and the warm summer day.
Many times I would take the ferry over to the island park for the day and simply spend time reading under a tree. There is a spectacular view of the downtown core from the island, and I often thought to myself how stark the contrast was between the two. The quiet, serenity of the park with the city skyline (I swear I could just feel the stress) in the background was a constant reminder of how much my life had improved.
Yeah, this was really a summer to remember. I’d recommend it to anyone. However, we’re almost into October now and the warm days are becoming few and far between. The sun is setting earlier and there is a little color starting to show in the leaves.
Fall is usually a time when I tend to get a little serious with life. It’s like summer vacation is over, time to get back to reality. Although this year things are obviously different as I don’t feel the usual pressure to get with it - nose to grindstone and all that.
However, I have started thinking about what lies ahead. After all, my funds won’t hold out indefinitely – even if I maintain a minimalist lifestyle. I think I really need to sit down and ask the age old question: What do I want to do with the rest of my life?
Whoooo, that question has always left me completely and utterly stumped. The closest I ever got to answering it was when I graduated from high school, and my parents issued me the ultimatum of either moving out (yeah, just TRY living on minimum wage…better jobs were a rarity in the area I lived in at the time), or live at home and attend community college, since I sure couldn’t afford a “real” school. Obviously, I picked the latter, and studied graphic design only because I had to pick something, and I can draw a little. Well, as you may know, that degree is pretty much nothing but an expensive poo-ticket, and the few classmates of mine who did manage to get in the door were only making two dollars more than me at Kinko’s. Ooooh. So, since that failed experiment, I ended up moving out-of-state with my bf at the time (much to my parents’ dismay, despite the fact that they were constantly on my case to move out, even though I was working two jobs, and was never home), and I spent the next few years suffering through low-paying, dead-end jobs until I met my husband and got married. And wouldn’t you know it, he doesn’t know what he wants from life either, but at least his job pays enough to live on. Anyway, I don’t really think that college is the answer for us, and neither of us seem to have very good luck in life, so I really don’t want to chance owning a business. My inner gypsy is urging me to get debt-free, build a savings, and do an RV lifestyle, despite the “doom and gloomers” telling me to get land, since I’ll be screwed if/when our economy collapses. Since it’ll take us a while to get up to speed, I guess I’ll just wait and see.
Comment by AP — September 25, 2006 @ 7:07 pm