It’s Tuesday and that means time for a slice. Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for providing a gathering space for us.
My OLW for 2016 has been FOCUS. And yesterday, I found the word popping up in a conversation about life transitions. As in that I am in my “junior” year of teaching and next year will be my “senior” year. (AKA I will retire in 2018). I have a hard time saying the “R” word. It’s much easier to see myself as graduating from teaching.
A friend asked me the first day of school, “How many first days of school have you had?” I laughed, “Fifty-nine and if you count nursery school (preschool in the olden days), sixty-one years.” Holey Moley…wow, just wow. A lot of years in school!
So one way I use the word focus is to consider things I will do after I graduate. I am a writer and a photographer, I will have more time for these endeavors.
I love this quote from Mary Oliver, from her poem, This Summer Day:
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
I think about the Tualatin Wildlife Refuge in need of volunteers. And I plan to sub at my school and only my school. I want to travel when it’s not summer vacation.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s silly to think about this. I mean it’s two years away. But sometimes, like on Sunday, I felt it in my heart area, this sadness around changes at school in which I had a good cry. It helps this is part of the journey I am on at this time.
Soon, I plan to launch a new Facebook Page that will be me as writer and possibly photographer (still in the thinking stage). Another step along the path. Another way for me to focus.
Jone Rush MacCulloch 
A big change is always emotionally challenging but think about how dull life would be without it. It sounds like you have a good plan. I strongly believe that this portion of life should be used to pursue passions that had to be put on the back burner of life. That is why I started the Senior Salon so that people embarking on new creativity would have a chance to meet and support each other.
Perfect to consider what you’ll do after graduation. I’m staying so busy in retirement that I’m not sure how I ever found the time to work. It helps to have friends in the same stage. We enjoy challenging each other to try new things. You plans are perfect for providing focus as you look down the path.
Nicely written confession of feeling weakness. I am heading there, too….not out to pasture, but the R word and working on my own pursuits – art, writing, more gardening. I think FOCUS is an entirely magical word. When a picture is in focus it is clear. When writing is focused we can see it and so believe it. What I focus on is what becomes important to me. I’m trying to focus on just doing a very good job right now while I’m working, but not get burned out.