Doing Things for the First Time

Dear Liza,

Walking in the neighborhood last evening, noticed this new sticker on a very well-stickered sign, and it got me thinking.

Retirement is usually seen as not only a chance to stop working, but also to start doing other things. And THAT is the sticky part. What to do?

One of the reasons I’m glad we moved to Portland after I retired is so that I was in a different place to start my different life. Transplanted, so to speak, into bigger pot. If I had stayed in Salinas, I might have felt the need to substitute teach, work at the same volunteer spaces, to do the comfortable, familiar things.

Being in a new place required me to learn new ways to get around (I gave up driving when we moved, so my mass transit IQ has gone up).

I also got to meet new people, which was becoming harder in small Salinas.

With you living abroad, me learning a new language made sense, and needing to get across town to do it and meeting a whole new community is a new thing.

And ART! I don’t know if I would have thought to do art in Salinas… it wasn’t who I WAS there. But away from my home roots, it felt natural.

Doing things for the first time is easier in a new place. Even when it feels a little scary.

So I’m off to do some more.

Love,

Grandma Judy