One stage ends …….

Recently retired from a more than satisfying career in education ,
my attitude to life is best summed up, perhaps,
by the person who spoke at the farewell party when she said

‘Life is a journey, not a destination:

For those of us who love the international life, such words could not be truer.  We do it for the thrill of moving, seeing new places, experiencing different cultures, proving our ability to overcome obstacles and hopefully making a few new friends along the way…. 

Anyone who knows her, knows one thing:
She loves the journey.

Naturally, she has all the qualifications of a trustworthy guide.  She’s a wise and experienced life traveler – having left her life as headmistress in the UK for an adventure in SE Asia, working in Vietnam, China and Thailand.  She continues to be a lifelong learner, enjoying the challenges of becoming a computer graphics wiz, IT savant and photographer extraordinaire…. 

Her adventurous spirit inspires us to take risks in our own lives – to become better students, better teachers and better people.’

These words were an appreciation of past actions, but, for me, they were also a challenge for the future.

And so it was that the next stage of the journey that is my life began.

….. and another begins

I have been fortunate to live in a very beautiful area of Northern Thailand for twelve years and for shorter periods to experience life in China and Vietnam and have been privileged to travel widely in Asia and Australia during that time.

And now I’m free to go wherever I like, whenever I like.

Now seems like as good a time as any to set up that blog I’ve been thinking about for so long and done nothing about…… I begin to think about what to write and how to write it. What makes me feel as I do today?

Two experiences recently have reminded me of my age:

The first was when a young colleague sent me a gift on retirement: she had personalized a notebook for me to use as a diary. I had looked on the web a few times for musings on retirement and had found mainly financial advice: boring!! And really not understanding the emotions of this retiree: yes, I want to be secure and have taken steps to make sure that I am as well set up as I can be. BUT, for me, this is another of the many beginnings in my life – and that’s way more important than having come to the end of a third career.

Feeling as I do, I was amused to read that my ‘number’ for the later stage of life is 1 and the comment attached by numerologists read thus:

There is no such thing as early retirement for you. In fact
you will probably receive your greatest claim and fame in
your later years. You are more active than most seniors  and
may even begin a new career while many others are simply
kicking back and taking it easy!

Having first ‘retired’ at 49, that made me laugh! Needless to say, thirteen years later I haven’t stopped: I have taught English as a Foreign Language, worked as a trainer for adults and Business Development Manager for a Language School and been the Admissions Director in an International School. I have gained an MA in Applied Linguistics and am about to complete a Master’s Certificate in Digital Arts.

Yes, retirement really is a new beginning…..and I hope to be able to document for the sceptics out there some of its joy.

Secondly,I looked in my wardrobe, saw purple clothes and was reminded of what was once named the UK’s favourite poem –

Warning – When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

By Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
with a red hat that doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
and satin candles, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
and run my stick along the public railings
and make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
and pick the flowers in other people’s gardens
and learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
and eat three pounds of sausages at a go
or only bread and pickles for a week
and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.

Nah!! I couldn’t wear a red hat – coat maybe, but not hat!!

After a lifetime of professional reflection, I am drawn back to one of the very first poems I learned in secondary school all those years ago:

Leisure

WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
by W. H. Davies

And so begins the next stage of the journey – stopping and staring, enjoying all that there is to see in this amazing world we live in and, of course,  being able to take advantage of the delights of the digital age to share images with anyone who cares to enjoy them with me.