Taking The Plunge

Ahh! Retirement, a time of relaxation and enjoyment, a chance to full-fill all those wishes and plans you have created over the years, the light at the end of the work tunnel, the golden chalice that we long for.  

Don't get me wrong, my life has not been all about looking forward. I have always been firmly planted in the moment and  I loved my 25 years as a Pre-school teacher, supporting parents in the role of raising their children whilst raising my own. 

When my own children were grown and starting to leave home, I stepped away from teaching and somehow found myself  in a new world, managing accommodation for students and trainers  and working with a wonderful team of people. I took an early retirement and there were plans in place for what that would look like, but as sometimes happens, life can sometimes throw those plans up in the air and they float around there, leaving us wondering where those pieces are going to land. 

Throughout my life, making things has always been my passion. I have always found ways to be creative and foster creativity in others and I cannot imagine life without the ability to hand create something beautiful. 

Creating eye-catching costumes for my 3 daughters (and briefly, for my son) and sometimes designing for the dancing school they attended (over twenty years added up to a LOT of costumes) left me with an appreciation of colours and textures and my hands sometimes still  twitch with the desire to take up a needle and thread and plunge them into glistening sequins and beads.  I now scratch that itch by quilting, where I still get to play with gorgeous fabrics.

Paper crafts have always been a passion too,  whether it is creating beautiful scrapbooks that tell the stories of family and adventures or making cards to acknowledge important occasion for friends and loved ones. Again, I get to play with colours and textures and express myself creatively. It is so important to me, that I have dedicated a space in my home where I can remove myself from the occasional chaos and CREATE, CREATE, CREATE.

Life in retirement has left me with a need for a little more structure in my life, a craving to record my day( teachers will understand this). I miss the constructive tapping of fingers on a keyboard, would you believe?  To this end, I have turned to blogging, where I hope to share my day and maybe even my creations with you. I am grateful to be still learning new things daily and realise that there is still an opportunity for growth and development  at any stage of life. So here's to reinventing oneself. If you have stuck with me for this long, I thank you and hope you'll share your thoughts with me