“I really think I write about everyday life. I don’t think I’m quite as odd as others say I am. Life is intrinsically, well, boring and dangerous at the same time. At any given moment the floor may open up. Of course, it almost never does; that’s what makes it so boring.”
–Edward Gorey
I really like Edward Gorey’s illustrations. I am most familiar with the ones he did for PBS Mystery. I want to read his books. Reading about him makes me smile. He used funny pen names that were a play on his name like Ogdred Weary and Dogear Wryde. If someone so wonderfully creative could say that he was bored sometimes I think I am in great company.
It has been hard being semi-retired. But I realize, at the least in recent years when I worked full-time, I spent my life doing a lot of work that just kept me distracted and busy. It used up a good part of my life. Now that I have been rudely excluded from that work I am at a loss. With a bit too much free time. What to do with it. The problem is that my prior jobs and parenthood structured my existence for me and I now I have to structure my own.
People can say go get busy. Do volunteer work. Devote yourself to service. A lot of my life has been taken up taking care of other people already. I am doing some volunteer work and tutoring part-time but that is not enough. I think I must find work or an activity that is truly engaging for me not just busy making or a distraction.
“A lot of impulsive mistakes are made by people who simply aren’t willing to stay bored a little longer.”
― Paul Aurandt
Not a good idea just to jump into the first thing that comes along.
I mentioned PBS Mystery. We do not have cable and I do not watch a lot of television. But I do enjoy PBS Mystery. I have written before that I have really enjoyed Endeavor and the Wallander series. Masterpiece is another PBS production I really like. I am still watching Downton Abbey although I think the earlier seasons were the best. I like Call the Midwife as well. It is great learning about Nurses in England who were midwives and made home visits.
I am glad that I do not have regular television service here because I can see how I might end up sitting in front of it watching a bunch of garbage to fill the time. So from what I have seen of Reality TV, I don’t think it is for me. Especially The Housewives of You Fill in the Blank.
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 
I love all the same PBS shows too! Retirement was hard for me at first too. I always wanted to write and took many college classes to work my way into writing. After that, I was just stuck. Now, I have my blog and that has led to many other favorable things, and I am finally writing. Take your time to find your niche. You will. ❤
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Thanks Colleen for the encouragement, advice and sharing your journey into retirement. Those PBS shows are good aren’t they? ❤
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I love them all. Downton Abbey, Call the Midwives, all the Masterpiece Mysteries. Some of the best shows on T.V. are found on PBS! 🙂
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I’m still a ways off from retirement but I’m looking forward to it. I won’t be filling it with reality TV (which bears little resemblance to reality in my book) but I hope not to be bored for too long at a time. But I might enjoy letting the distractions go until I am bored, that might be a nice feeling. Greta post, I enjoyed reading this.
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Thank You Dan. I know the feeling when we are working so hard and long stretch of free time sounds great. I will probably be writing more on this stage as I progress through it. Thanks for your great comment. 🙂
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I’m very close to retirement, possibly even by the end of this year. And I do worry about how I will spend my free time once that happens. But hey, I can always start a retirement blog, I suppose.
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Well you will see how you feel once you have more free time. 🙂 Yup you could definitely continue blogging and talk about retirement issues. 🙂
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I think it’s important to be happy with whatever you are doing. We do spend so much of our lives working and swallowing up big chunks of time that we will never get back.
I am admittedly a fan of Reality tv- some trashy, some not- but I like to think that I’m selective. 🙂
There are so many “time wasters” out there that it is important to take a look at what you are doing- whether it is a job or the internet or whatever. Good luck finding some new interesting and fulfilling endeavors. 🙂
I really enjoyed your unique twist to Kat Got Your Tongue challenge-Thank you for joining in!
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Thanks Kat. ❤ Yes and now that we have much more time to ourselves it's kind of strange and it leads to much more self reflection hopefully to decide what we want to do that is important to us.
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As my children get older and I see this next generation coming to be, I find myself thinking a lot about what I want to do.
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I am retired, and I am also boredom-proof, which is good. A life of meditation practice made me that way. I learned that boredom is a sign that something is out-of kilter internally, yet the feeling gets projected outwardly in error. Sensory stimulation is like a drug, the more we use it the more impactful it needs to be to have an equal effect. All the while, a great beauty and peace can be apprehended in the very simplest of things. In fact, we experience life more fully and deeply when we live with a tranquil mind, and retirement is a wonderful opportunity to do just that.
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Thanks Hariod. Yes, I think it is good to take the free time and do some self-reflection and get in touch with ourselves. 🙂
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I love PBS, too. It’s really the only decent entertainment on television in my opinion.
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I agree. 🙂
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Hmmm, you bring up a very interesting topic of being bored. I remember as a kid, I’d tell my mom I was bored…now I can’t imagine a child being bored since there were so many adventures we created then…I too at times still now feel bored and wonder what to do. I can completely relate to what you wrote…and thank you for sharing with us!
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Thanks Lia. Boredom is not good for anyone. 🙂
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Another Wallander fan! I don’t know very many other people who watched Wallander. But, as you say, you don’t want to sit and watch. Glad you have found your blogging voice 🙂
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Thanks Sandi. Yes I was introduced to Wallander at my library mystery book group. I really liked Henning Mankell’s writing. I even watched the Swedish version of Wallander, they made their own series besides the British one. We had to read subtitles but we got used to it. 🙂
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I should see if my library has his books! I’ve only seen the PBS version.
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