May Day: Retirement, More or Less and Potty Training

Even if a one year old had the skills of verbal expression, you would not ask “what are your plans?” One year olds don’t have plans, they have vision. “I’m gonna perfect this walking thing, get some of that solid food others seem to enjoy and  get out of these soggy diapers. I may not be able to feel it, but I sure smell it.”  The one year old is all about the quality of life. They don’t have plans like “I’m waiting for my teeth to come in, hopefully the parents have teething gel for me. I’m also working on navigation and muscle control so I can, “make potty” as they say.”

Today is May Day¹ and my official “la jubilación!”  OK, y’ all might call it retirement, but that just sounds wrong. I prefer the term in Spanish. Anyway, people have been asking me, “what are your plans?” Well, it’s all about the quality of life, more or less. Have more fun, worry less. Make more money, work less. The rest is an adventure that will reveal itself. Through the  construct of school and work, characters/archetypes appear. The bad teachers people know to avoid become the bad bosses people know to avoid. We have classmates that become lifelong friends and we have colleagues who become life long friends. But in the absence of a 5 days a week, construct more or less, what archetypes will appear and what character will I become?

I have no idea. All I know is right now, I can have a Dr Pepper after 4:00 pm because even if the caffeine may keep me awake until 11:00pm, I don’t have to get up tomorrow at 5:30 am. I’m going to enjoy the freedom and go a little wild. This week consider your constructs and the difference between plans and visions. Maybe lighten up on the plan and relish the vision.

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¹May Day is recognized as Labor Day worldwide. It seems fitting that my retirement date is May Day. This post is about retirement; I’ve written other posts which focus on May Day and the Labor Movement.

²For the overly observant, this is snake month, so I am wearing a snake print dress, a wrap dress to be precise. OK, I made a plan; get a snake print dress and retire on May Day.