Routines, Retirement, and Disrupted Plans

My days are not very exciting...

Retirement, routines, and retina health

Being retired for almost eight years, a routine of sorts has come into being. No more setting a ridiculously early alarm clock, no more rushing around, deciding what to wear. Planning breakfast can easily take a good long while, and there’s no reason to rush out the door. Dawdling over hot tea and the daily newspaper, complete with comics and word puzzles, is where you will find me most mornings. Yes, a typical start to a day in the land of retirement.

Exercise routines

I do set up a schedule of sorts in a quest to remove some of the “COVID-19 baggage" that has settled on these hips of mine, and that can often mean exercise. I enjoy long walks, and I am aiming for 3-4 miles a couple of times a week, alternating with a recumbent bicycle on other days. There is also my long-time hobby: yoga. What I have learned with all this exercise is, I have to do it. Because when I stop, everything stops. Movement has to be constant, or I will stagnate.

A healthier diet

There has also been an increase in meal planning with healthy eating in mind. Thankfully my husband has joined in on this quest, and we are discovering new ways and new foods to eat. Meals that entail a lot of green vegetables and lean meats. We have curtailed our in-between snacking as well, and the results have been encouraging.

Ever so slowly, the numbers are coming down. This will be a long process, but it has taken 11 months to get this far up. The goal is to hit pre-covid in an equal amount of time.

A passion for art

My true passion has been art. I know I have shared stories about this before. It truly is what I focus much of my time on, thinking and plotting what is next as my art room becomes overtaken by these projects. Still, I continue to search for what is next. I have created inspiration files and folders, each overloaded with ideas for what is next.

Depending on the project and what medium I chose, the stage is set. I align my lights just so, position the computer screen in its optimal space, turn on all overhead lights and a gentle moving ceiling fan, and the process begins. Really, the best part of my day is set to begin.

The irony

As I begin each new art project, I am often struck by the happenstance of this myopic degeneration diagnosis. While this degeneration continually raises its opposing forces against my vision, my brain is rallying against it no matter what.

I want to see what I want to see. I will do everything in my power to continue to create this art. I strive to recreate the minute details of any given project. I put a lot of time and effort into this part of my art. It is my ultimate hope and dream to continue to do so, and the fine details are the building blocks of what I create. Myopic degeneration and all, I will persevere long as I can.