Retirement & The Bucket List

That list of things you want to do, The Bucket List.  

Like making my own comics:

I have now done most of the things I ever set out to do. Be involved with some technological worthwhile product, live and work overseas, make music, draw, sculpt, start my own (side) business, have a family and a few other things.

There are also a lot of things I never had any interest in, like Being Rich and Famous, performing on stage, a Tennis Pro or Golfer, so they haven't happened and I am very okay with that too.

Even have a Best Of Album on Bandcamp. But that wasn't something that was ever on my Bucket List. My desire was just to do music production, in my own studio, at a level I was happy with. The album came out of that.  

Retirement itself was never on my bucket list.  Retirement wasn't something I ever thought about till just weeks before I did it.  And that I would retire to Japan wasn't either.  But giving up full time work had such a huge impact on my life. A huge stress was removed from me.  Hadn't seen that coming.

Gave me an opportunity to really think about what I like and don't like and what comes natural to me, and is comfortable.  I have come to embrace my true Introvert self, and be content.  Making something in my small studio is bliss. It is also something that doesn't really cost anything.

During my working life, I travelled overseas a lot. Catching an airplane somewhere now is not what I want to do. But I do love going somewhere up to a couple hours away by train, and Japan really is a place to do that in comfort.

Retirement has been a chance to wake up and think, "what do I want to do today?". Sometimes that is just hangout with our cat, at other times build and paint a model, go to an Art Exhibition, go to a Cafe and Drink Coffee while listening to my music player, or play with a synthesizer.  

There are lots of things happening around the world that I can get really upset about, but I also have no agency over any of them. Nothing I can do has any impact over them at all, even if I have drawn a cartoon or two pointing out some of the stupidity.  Generally I have found there is no good side to even thinking about them. It saves my mental health to not follow what is happening and pretty much ignore the foreign news. That keeps me a happy camper.  

Hope you get the opportunity to be able to do what makes you content.

We can be found at ArtAndTechnology