Retiring after 48 years of being in the rat-race, getting up every morning and running out the door to someone else’s place of employment, then in the evening either running to rehearsals (me being a musician) or running to teach, running to teach on Saturday mornings, choir directing on Sunday mornings…I am no longer in that rat race. However due to the pandemic our music studio closed and we’re not allowed to have choirs in church, etc. So my other jobs that I intended to continue with are hurting.

So how do you go from the rat race to no race? I find I can work expertly for someone else but do I know how to work for myself? I have one Makeup Artist Certificate and am ensconced in another makeup course, have signed up for a third and finally will probably take the skincare course as well. I’ve gotten some very serious accolades from the Executive Makeup Artist regarding my work. He feels that I may have a bigger new career in front of me rather than my rather small ambitions of just being able to help my Avon customers more. That’s great to hear. And I just got a new online music student. So that progress is slow but it’s happening.

A new life doesn’t happen in two months like I very much thought. It takes awhile to redefine yourself. And you have to have faith in yourself that this will happen. How many mornings have I awakened and felt useless. Laid in bed and thought “what am I doing?” Sucks sometimes but you push yourself to continue making that new life happen. I was almost scammed by an online job venture that thanks to my bank catching it, didn’t happen and didn’t cause damage to my accounts. There’s always that to contend with as well.

It’s survival out there. Especially now with people still on lockdown and not 100% functioning due to this pandemic I am now calling the “plandemic.” And then the continuing search/prayer for the love of my life. It’s ongoing. But I’m still convinced it will happen and soon.

So more life lessons no matter what stage of life you’re in. But we press on and make this new life evolve into a real new life. So here’s to becoming my new self again and probably again in the future. It never ends. And maybe it shouldn’t. Lifelong learning.