We meet again. . .

How very sorry I am that I have been away so long from blogging.  I periodically get caught up in other avenues of my life and let this connection with you slide.  It’s not because I don’t care about this activity.  I love writing, of all kinds, in all settings.  In fact, I have just recently finished another book.  It’s soon to go to the printer.  This one is being published by Conari, the same publisher I have used for the last few books.  Having a great relationship with a publisher, when you are a writer, is so important.  I’ve been extremely lucky to have had two superb publishers.  Hazelden published my first book, EACH DAY A NEW BEGINNING, and the subsequent 19 books.  Conari has published another 8 or 10.  A lucky woman I am.

This new book is titled, LIVING LONG, LIVING PASSIONATELY: 75 and counting.  It’s a book of essays, (75 in all), designed to guide the reader into focusing on the remaining years, following retirement, with gusto. It’s been my observation to note that far too many people fail to live enthusiastically after they have “closed the office door” for the last time.  They seem to wait for the next turn of events rather than initiating it.  I do know that for most of us, being idle for a spell feels well deserved.  We have pushed ourselves for decades.  To rest, simply rest for a time is a good decision.  However, it can linger as the only decision we make for too long.

Don’t misunderstand; I do think that downtime is mandatory.  We need the weeks, or even months to sort out who we were; who we are when initially retired, and who we envision ourselves becoming as the months ahead greet us.  I know that I will never abandon writing.  It will call to me until I die, I expect, much the same way as painting continued calling to Frida Kahlo even when she could no long stand up to paint.  In fact, she set her easel next to her bed and she painted while reclining.  I found that fact about her life very moving.  Passion for what we love doesn’t die just because we can no longer stand up, or sit up to do it.

I have said to many that I plan to explore, once again, fiction when time permits.  I used to be in a short story writing group and loved allowing the inner voice to speak to me in that genre.  Writing is writing, after all.  The voice doesn’t quit speaking to us just because we have aged. At least that’s what I am counting on.  Maybe I’ll hit the best seller list with fiction.  What a joy that would be.

Whatever we do when the time to slow down is upon us, taking it one moment at a time, squeezing all the joy out of every moment, is where we will find true happiness. I hope you are as excited about this next stage of living as I am.  We will discover that which we long to experience.  That’s an idea we can take to the bank. Let’s watch our bank accounts grow!