Retirement, I mean. Well, I haven’t really ‘retired’. Officially I have, but that’s so that I get the financial benefits of retiring. In reality, I simply resigned from my position as graphic designer at Southbank Institute in order to begin my ‘real’ work, the work I should have been doing all along if only I’d known what it was.
Even now I’m sort of hazy about it … or so it seems, because when I try to describe what it is I want to do, most people just look puzzled. This could be on account of my complex (some call it ‘muddled’) mind which can’t come up with a simple explanation for anything.
If you have a bit of time on your hands, I’ll try to explain it to you.
I want to make ‘special’ books.
I have a passion, you see, for people’s personal stories. Not their ‘history’ – though that can be interesting too. No, I mean the sort of stories some of you tell here at MyMac. Little slices of life that colourise what could otherwise be ‘ordinary’. Now, imagine putting all those stories (along with those of other members of your family) into a very special book, beautifully designed – handmade probably, using lovely papers and textures. The sort of book that would be passed on from generation to generation.
Now imagine this being supplemented by a digital version, which includes sound and moving images, extension material via links, etc. An adventure in ‘digital storytelling’. (Nemo has suggested I write a feature on Digital Storytelling, so I won’t go into that here.)
The book, because it would take a long time to make, would be a ‘one-off’, but the digital version would be easily duplicated so all members of a family could have one.
Well, there you are. That’s what I want to do.
It doesn’t sound all that complicated when I put it like that. Unfortunately, that’s not ALL I want to do. I’m also passionate about writing, photography, music, collecting the works of brilliant (albeit unknown) writers and artists and putting THEIR stuff into special books, along with my own (I’m hoping the beauty of the container will disguise the inadequacies of my own work).
There’s a lot to do. I knew it wouldn’t be EASY, but I did think it would be easier … easier to START.
I thought I’d get up in the morning around 6.30 (as had been my habit – even on weekends – for the past several years), spend an hour or so writing in my journal, meditating, doing a little yoga or something, check my email, and then – around 8.30 – I’d start work.
Wrong!
Instead, I’ve been rising around 7.30-8.00, and by the time I’ve done the above (minus the yoga), and then breakfasted on the verandah in the sun (still in my night attire), it’s always around 10 or even 11. Which is almost time for lunch (lunch takes longer with a husband around, by the way). After lunch I check my email … which always provides me with links to some interesting sites. Before I know it, it’s after 3pm … time for a nice cup of tea and a piece of cake – on the verandah again (it’s a very nice verandah).
You can imagine the rest.
I’m so afraid that I’m going to die before I’ve even STARTED my life’s work.
Drastic action is needed. To gain some time I could:
1. sleep in my clothes
2. remove all mirrors so I can then leave my hair ‘au naturel’
3. lock the door to the verandah and throw away the key (uh-oh, that would then leave me in my junk-filled office/studio which has to be cleared before I even have ROOM to work)
4. ban my husband from making contact with me between the hours of, say, 9 and 6
5. buy only food I don’t particularly like so I get meals over and done with quickly
6. blow up the TV
7. keep my cat Kasha out of my office (it’s not easy to work with a cat draped around your neck)
8. turn off the email alert sound
9. unsubscribe from twenty or so ezines
Hmm … I was hoping the list would reach 10.
Any other suggestions?
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