Sylvia's Journal

My semi-retirement is now starting to look like full retirement. I no longer wake up at 5AM and go to bed later than I have done for decades. I used to go to the gym to swim or ride a bike at that early hour but all this is now a thing of the past. 

I now do what other retirees are doing: projects in the house. I knit socks or whatever fits the amount of wool I have available. I am re-fashioning my mother-in-law’s braided stair runner that was half consumed by carpet beetles. It’s a huge project that will occupy me for years to come – or not if we are told to stay at home and the electricity/internet goes out.

My other occupation is being a member of the coaching program team of EthicalCoach which focuses, for now, on organizing a year of free coaching of Ethiopian NGOs by world class coaches. I know they are world class because I interviewed people who were coached by them and were transformed. It has strengthened my resolve to continue to coach and promote the coaching profession.

And now there is Sita’s creative response to the new normal of (working, or trying-to-remain-working) parents at home with young children. Her platform allows for what she calls ‘community learning,’ using the expertise, passion and skills from one person to be flowing, like a river, into places where there is interest or even a dire need.

I signed up for next week to talk about Mongolia, a country I visited some years ago. I will put together a series of pictures of this faraway land and contribute to this opening-of-the-minds initiative. I also contacted an actor friend to see if he is willing to read my (as yet unpublished) children’s book about a school bus’ journey to Africa. I wrote it years ago and looked for a while for an illustrator, and then, being unsuccessful, left it languishing on my computer. Maybe this is the time for a world premiere.