Trading in my Parking Spot for my Future (some call it Retirement)

Trading in my Parking Spot

Some months ago I arrived one day at work and found this bicycle hitched to my parking spot.

Ah, I thought, perfect for my goodbye. Oh, don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no inclination to trade in my 4 wheels for something with no protection going down hills. But somehow this bicycle sent me images of a wicker basket filled with flowers, a baguette, a bottle of wine. A winding country lane even maybe.

This bicycle spoke to me about my future.

It filled me with a sense of awe. It reminded me of how the years have flown by, how certain things have broken down, how some scenery has been fantastic and of the surprising potholes that have shown up. 

You know, those deep ruts that make you lean and hold on to the handlebars tightly. The ones that form (it seems) almost overnight. The bad habits along with the better ones. The unexpected turns in your career, in your health, the dead halt in your ambition as you take care of the necessities. How you kiss your creativity farewell and put it in your back pocket hoping that it will stay put safely...until later. (Tweet This)

Box of Favourite Toys

It was a box, just a box. It held nothing that meant anything to me but were the treasures held for decades by someone who used to be close to me. How did I get possession of this box, you ask?

Box of Favourite Toys

A life time ago, I was young and in love. Those feelings I eventually gave away too. But the owner of this box kept adding to it with the loss of each female relative. And then decades passed, these “jewels” were eventually left to me, and ended up with assorted other bits of history that had no story. Glassy, audacious, sparkly, set in garish ornate, old-fashioned brooches and hat-pins. They sat in the equally absurd bronze stained wooden box at the back of my closet, ignored.

The more I’ve read however of cleaning out our loved one’s closets made me consider my own mortality. How could I leave all this stuff for my own children to sift through? How could I leave them with all my junk, incomplete projects, scribbles in notebooks, scraps of fabric and this box of jewelry. How would they know what was important to me and not just filling up my spaces, preventing me from discovering myself. (Tweet This)

You might think, ohmygoodness, but she’s old, surely she should know who she is by now? But guess what, you are ALWAYS learning and growing. I am not the person I was last year, or last week. I have learned and lost and shared and grown some more. And in that passage of time, I’ve discovered that “things” have lesser meaning, because I will leave this world alone without any of my favourite toys. And those who know me best will get to choose which leftover piece of my heart has any value to them. (Tweet This)

And that is why, I have worn the (less!) ugly brooches on my jean jacket, or taken some apart to hang on a chain, have used another to decorate a gift, and given many away. The monetary value might be a little or a lot, I do not know. 

But I like to think that each trinket will arrive on the doorstop of someone who will appreciate its uniqueness. And the story they tell of how it reached them is really none of my business.

Because we all leave this world alone without any of our favourite toys. (Tweet This)

in the Middle of Vacation - I've thrown out my list

Like most of us, I looked forward to having a break from my full-time role in the weeks leading up to it. I made plans.

I was armed with a long list of things I planned to accomplish, the people I wanted to see, creative tasks that sat on the back-burner while working and goals for my long free, I'm-so-spoiled days.

I'm not sure how you handle the carefree days of summer but I am surprised (why would I be?) how quickly the time goes by. My list of things to do still sits with very little crossed off and oh my goodness there are only a three weeks left. (Yes, I did say that I was spoiled.) I have had many laughs and coffees with my catch-up-with friends. How do you estimate the value of that?

An extra yoga class each week has been squeezed in to the day time hours, instead of racing racing racing to an evening class. Walking in the morning, smelling my neighbours cooking their bacon and puttering in their gardens has set my senses tingling.

Boho Jewelry ValueVillageDIY

A few trinkets have emerged, created while sitting in the dining room a glass of wine by my side, watching some "girlie" Fashion Friday show (recorded earlier that day). A few trips to Value Village to secure some discarded jewelry pieces that could be re-born, not quite on my list but fun nevertheless.

June Create - completed under the Wire

June Create somewhere in here

June Create somewhere in here

Such a good idea, it seemed at the time. Spread all the pieces and begin. How many times have you spread yourself too thin? Thought you could handle it, and then felt overwhelmed? Where to begin, how to begin? Scary isn't it?

June Create somewhere in here

If we look at all we want to accomplish and take a close look at all our skills (or beads as the case might be), how do we stop, to focus, to set a goal, to finish something? My dining room table was the canvas for my June Create. For ten days it held my various purchases, and plans, and ideas.

I moved things around, I researched, I Googled, and I got lost but was encouraged on Pinterest. And then I sat down, sometimes with a tea, sometimes with a wine and made these.

Beads from Mexico - some handpainted

Mauve Power

Flower Pendant - opens

Sea Glass Necklace

Soft Sky Wraparound

It's up to each of us to assess our skills, our timeline, our fears and our JOY. Do something because you want to Play, do something because it makes you happy. Do something because it makes you You! Find yourself, Find your Bliss.