ode to unemployment

I have joked often over the last 11 months that retirement will suit me well. It will! And yet I crave the growth and challenge that comes from situations and people that I do not choose...namely "work".

The leisure, the geography, the food, the culture, the skill, etc...all just details. I have learned:

• a certain quantity of uncertainty is beneficial;
• to enjoy relaxing in cafes for indeterminate periods of time;
• to be satisfied with whatever a day brings, as a "total waste" is simply not possible;
• how to let myself off the hook;
• the value of bring present;
• that the projects I planned to do during my time off, but haven't done, will likely never be completed as they didn't ever pass the cost/benefit test (electronic recipe book, etc.);
  
• how to make truffles and other calorific time-intensive recipes;
  
• the benefits of prioritizing what matters most;
• to see the futility of most routines;
• what truly defines an individual is not their average day or experience;
• that actually finishing books feels good (favorites of the year were: "The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World" and "What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self";
• and finally that though independence and flightiness has their allure, quality interaction is priceless.