Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Unfamiliar Territory

I have four days to get my slicing muscles back into shape before the March challenge begins. And let me tell you, they are most definitely out of shape. I must remember that it is a marathon and not a sprint because slicing is not something that I have kept up with. At the end of each March, I always say I am going to keep on slicing throughout the year after writing for 31 days.

But then I don't.

I am dragging out the "equipment" in the form of my blog, prompts, notebooks, memories, and whatever else it is going to take to turn writing a slice back into muscle memory.

Today I went to Gary Anderson's blog to look at his long list of prompts while I begin my training. This one caught my eye:

"Tell about unfamiliar territory."

A word popped into my thinking this week. A word that is unfamiliar to me. A word that I don't think I have given much thought to nor even had a discussion about.

Retirement.

That word does not roll off my tongue easily and leaves a taste in my mouth that I don't quite recognize. 

I began to think and question. How many more years do I have in me? Do I want to leave the classroom while I am still somewhat on top of my game? Do I wait until I no longer enjoy it? Am I ready? What would I do? How will I know when I am ready? Is it retirement or just a wanted/needed change?

I am unsure of these answers as of right now. But what I do know, is that I have never thought about retirement until recently. Maybe it's a sign. 

Whatever it may be, it is certainly unfamiliar territory.




8 comments:

  1. Change is scary and exciting. I don't envy the uncertainty of it. I can feel discomfort of "unfamiliar" in your post. Thanks for sharing.
    My writing muscles are also weak...we will prevail together! I look forward to seeing you this month!

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  2. I've been trying to do the weekly slices recently to get back into the habit for March. Maybe you can use "retirement" as your prompts for several days, take each of your questions as a prompt for the day. Having made the retirement decision myself, I can assure you that all those questions are good ones, and retirement is something that requires much thought and planning. Good luck with retirement thinking, and good luck with March slicing.

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  3. Thanks for sharing. It got me thinking about this next month of writing that I am about to embark upon.

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  4. I can officially retire in three years and the same questions are swimming about in my head.

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  5. Yay, for joining SOLSC. Good idea to have a list of prompts ready to inspire.

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  6. Good questions to ask yourself when considering retirement. There is a lot that goes into making the decision. I'm glad I retired when I did, but then I didn't really retire full time. Now I am considering full time retirement, but not quite ready yet. Good luck on the March. I won't be writing, but I will be reading. :-)

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  7. Oh, how I could relate to this post! My husband is closer to retirement than I am, and I know we'll be having that discussion soon. Me? I've only been a librarian for the last seven years of my education career, so I feel like I've got another ten in me, at least! Still, it's time to start thinking and planning....

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  8. Oh my gosh, yes, my slicing muscles are so flabby right now. Tomorrow (and the next 31 days!) will be a rude awakening. I love this prompt and am stealing it myself. It's so interesting to think about what's next, isn't it? One of my colleagues asked me recently when I think I will retire from working, and I didn't know what to say. Who am I without work??

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