Gone Livin’ – ♥

Do I REALLY know what I’m doing?

The distractions shared on Gone Livin’ take time, but keep my life current.  The major-league stuff plants a serious question on my soul, “Do I know what I’m doing?”

Volunteering – This list could seem demanding, but I live in the delusion that they won’t all call on me at once.

• Mentoring Women in Recovery – Discover one addiction and numerous others appear underneath.  I love these women for all they do to help themselves.  I learn so much from each one.  Please read the last sentence as fact, not as a condescending statement of niceness.

• Box Office Sales at our local Theater –  This commitment is under review.  I’ve arrived to sell tickets before performances only to find the system won’t cooperate.  I phone the Coordinator and each Administrator.  No one answers their phone.  They’ve no desire to be the one to tell me to “Suck it up, Babe!”

The problems are plentiful and never the same.  They forgot to tell me the system has been upgraded or the ticket printer won’t work which means the system also won’t accept credit or debit cards.  Patrons stand in front of the window making impromptu financial arrangements with semi-strangers who passionately understand the importance of seeing this particular performance.

Praise given for creatively surviving and subsequent free access to shows aren’t fodder enough to entice my continuing.  I will not enable ineffective service to our patrons.  Management needs a boot; not the computer.

• Co-Pod Leader for Emergency Response – A neighbour and I inch this service forward.  We now have our neighbours’ data compiled and emailed to Emergency Services.  Emergency Rescue Workers now know who lives in each home and who has special needs.

The current challenge is setting up a communication network:  What if we have no hydro, phones, internet, or cell phone service?  The other volunteers who “signed up” do not show up for meetings.  Other Pods have the same experience.  There hasn’t been an emergency on our island for hundreds of years and people are typically blasé.  I could worry, but take comfort knowing the data base is in place.

• Executive Secretary for PROBUS – Australia, Canada and England have Probus Clubs fully functioning and growing.  It’s for retired and semi-retired PROfessional BUSiness people. We are NOT a service club.  We exist for fellowship, networking and healthy stimulation.  We line up fascinating speakers for our monthly meetings.  Two of my recent favourites?  A Canadian who heads the design team building the camera for the new telescope that will replace Hubble.  The other – a woman who built a small weaving hobby into a major career.  She has been commissioned by different movie sets (including Disney) to weave materials for their productions.  Throughout those challenges, she’s taught weaving to people in various countries.

It’s a pleasure to work with people who are used to operating with efficiency and common sense.

• DRUM ROLL – Writer for a National Newspaper – Rosie at Wondering Rose sent an email asking if I was interested in a search made by a major Canadian newspaper for a blog writer for the Financial Section.  Curiosity piqued, I followed the instructions and expressed an interest.  (Rosie-you-darlin’, thank you.  Let’s hope I am thick-skinned enough to be able to do this.  I’m not sure how to handle being attacked by readers if that should happen.)

In summary, I have been presented with a contract to write a post every second week – as a new retiree with stories themed in finance.  When my submissions are actually published, I’ll share a link.

However…I have some trepidation. This is an excerpt from the Editor’s email:  “The one thing I will ask you, though, if we move forward, is to be open to the editing process. Having worked with some non-professional writers, I know you are not accustomed to being edited. I have no intention of taking out your voice or your personality, but editing is a key part of the writing process and something you will have to embrace if we are going to put out a quality compelling blog.”

Thankfully, we start with a three month trial period.  I’m proceeding with enough enthusiasm to hopefully provide an antidote for the chopping, changing and crucifixion known as “editing”.

As if that wasn’t enough abundance for one excited and challenged retiree who is carving out a new, well-rounded and healthy life, there’s more!  This is long enough.  I’m heading off to complete Gone Livin’ – ♥♥