Tag: blog

Integration of Work and Life: No Retirement Needed

For as long as I can remember, retirement has been painted as the golden finish line of adult life—the crowning reward after years of striving, sweating, and steady dedication to a chosen profession. Images of sunlit golf courses, endless cruises, and unhurried mornings float through the collective imagination, promising a life unburdened by alarm clocks and deadlines. And yet, for all its allure, I find myself moving ever further away from the idea of traditional retirement. In fact, I do not plan to retire at all, and I carry that conviction with a spirit of optimism, energy, and deep personal meaning.

Redefining the Meaning of Work

Over the years, I’ve come to see work not merely to an end, but as an integral thread woven into the fabric of who I am. The majority of my life I have been an entrepreneur. It has provided a sense of purpose, a daily rhythm, opportunities for creative expression, and most importantly, a reason to get up every morning with intention. I don’t just have one business currently I have 3 and I’m considering a 4th and 5th.  That’s the thing about owning businesses you have this creative muscle you are constantly working. 

Another facet of the traditional ideas of retirement were that spouses were finally able to spend time together. They can ease into their morning with coffee and a sunrise. Except for me I get to do that now. I wake up every day with my best friend (no alarm clock)and spouse. We drink coffee, scroll, workout, have breakfast together as we ease into our days. And when we need a refresh, we jump in the camper and spend a 3-day weekend on some water and just be together. I’m 43 and I have no desire or foresee myself retiring anytime soon. 

Why would I want to retire from a life I have been able to cultivate I already love waking up to everyday. 

What’s your views on retirement? Leave ideas for me in the comments. 

What is Emotional Baseline?

As I sit in our motorhome and watch my husband, Chris, of twenty-four years wash the breakfast dishes I find myself content. It is a foreign concept to allow myself this pleasure. Being the daughter of trauma that I am I’ve literally had to work on myself to allow this opportunity. Don’t get me wrong I’m not talking about the money I’ve earned to be in a motorhome or the freedom being self-employed allows us to take off and camp. It’s not that kind of work.

It’s the internal reprogramming of a life of bullshit indoctrinated into me by ancestors, media, organized religion, and society. For most of my life I’ve believed that to have joy or pleasure was not afforded to me because I was _____. (poor, a bastard, white trash, unproductive, uneducated, had a GED, no degree,) The word combinations were endless. If I’d catch myself happy then I’d say, “Woah you haven’t earned that joy.”

What the fuck kind of internal dialogue did I have to say things like that to myself as early as ten?

Now in my early 40’s I’m just breaking through all the deprogramming and learning the truth. You can have joy without contentment, but you can’t have contentment without joy.

Contentment is like the baseline operating mode that you should be most of the time. It’s an emotional rhythm people find and can maintain due to all the little daily choices they make based on their internal value systems.

Joy is when something exceptional happens to spike the baseline of your emotional standard. It’s kind of like the high note of a song. You can’t sing a whole song in a G. You must take a breath eventually and go back down to a tone you can maintain. That’s emotional baseline.

Most people, like me, seem to be in a constant emotional baseline of fright or flight. There is no time for peace or rest because_____. Insert whatever reason. That’s not to say there aren’t good reasons. But if people living in poverty who work every day just to meet their basic needs make time for rest, joy, and celebration. Why shouldn’t you?