Reading and studying whatever topic is of interest to me at the time.
Interacting with my two dogs.
Spending a little quality time with my husband.
Looking out the windows of my house at the countryside. We live in the country.
Spending a couple of hours writing on my work in progress.
Blogging and interacting with blogging friends.
Seeing or talking to any member of my rapidly dwindling family.
Talking to or spending time with close friends.
Listening to music. My tastes in music are wide-ranging.
Learning to play keyboards. I have been a pianist most of my life, but have never played electronic keyboards. But, I’m learning!
What brings me the most joy is just the sameness of the days. It makes me comfortable and secure in my world although I also like periods of adventure.
Blogging has been an important part of my life since 2016. I’ve been blogging off and on, for eight years. I’ve actually had a career in writing in the fields of finance and business since 1998, but at that time, I was also a college professor of finance. Finance and business are a far cry from creative writing! I juggled the two careers, teaching and writing, until 2008 when I retired from teaching. I became a full-time writer, but I only wrote non-fiction in my field of finance.
For a while, I freelanced for a number of companies and websites. After 2008, I landed several contract jobs and writing actually started to be an encore career for me. I was still freelancing as a finance and business writer. I also wrote a bit on education.
Since I was a child, I had dreamed of writing fiction and engaging in creative writing. I had no training or experience, but I did have a wonderful mentor who helped and encouraged me. When I finally discovered blogging, I thought I could hone my limited creative writing skills by blogging. That was eight years ago.
I’ve had to take some breaks from blogging over the years when I was working a particularly hard contract job that required long hours. I’ve always come back to my WordPress blog and this wonderful group of bloggers.
Blogging and reading other people’s blogs never bores me. We have some wonderful professional writers here in our community whose work I thoroughly enjoy, along with other writers who write more for fun. Some have made a successful career from their blogging. I have a wide variety of interests so reading and writing on varied topics is suitable for me.
Blogging has also given me an emotional outlet. I’m an introvert, so talking to people is occasionally difficult. I can say everything I want to say through writing and blogging.
Do I like the age I am now? This is a loaded question! Of course, the age I am now is better than the alternative of not being here at all. Is it my favorite age (or decade)? Absolutely not.
I’m grateful to be any age since I am still alive and reasonably well, but this is not my favorite decade. I’m at the age where I’m considered to get getting old. In America, when you are getting old in other people’s eyes, you suddenly become invisible. You’re not taken seriously anymore. You aren’t considered to be the wise counsel you once were. You are thought to be behind the times. The amazing thing is that none of those factors may apply to you, but ageism in the U.S. is real. Older people seeking employment are not as valuable to most employers as younger people even though we have a lifetime of learning and wisdom.
On a practical level, yes, I have aches and pains and even a full-blown chronic illness. The chronic illness bothers me more than it used to. It is now harder to control and just managing it has become aggravating. At my age, friends and family have started to die off. I had four very close losses in 2023 alone, most younger than I am. Because the world sees older people as invisible, you experience loneliness. Younger people think people my age are out of touch. If only they could know the truth! We are still 35 in our heads. At my age, most of my friends, including myself, are retired or semi-retired. Retirement is not all it is cracked up to be.
Do I like the age I am now? A resounding no, but it’s way better than the alternative.
The Write Scribe 
