An aside that's really inside. I just sent a version of this message
to a colleague in Hawaii on how I am handling retirement:
So, to answer your question as briefly as I can. As I told a student
who asked if I miss the classroom, while I didn't stampede to retirement, I
still practice what I call "the art of self-arousal." Has nothing to do with
sex. It has everything to do with being 72 years young! I've learned that I do
not grow old simply by living a certain number of years. I grow old only when I
stop filling those years with purpose, significance, and newness. It has
everything to be the sculpture or painter of my own life. It has everything to
with going beyond merely intrinsic, self-motivation. It has to do with making
the best of what I have now, not what I had. I'm not going to dwell on what it
used to be like or that I miss the students. I've learned that regrets are
something that hold you back and keep you looking over your back. I live
forward in my "now." I love being Louis Schmier; I love being around me; I love
whoever Louis Schmier will become in the future. I love being Susie's husband;
I love being Michael's and Robby's dad; I love being grandpa to my
grandmunchkins.
I never thought I would ever retire. My dream was to drop dead in the
classroom at the ripe young age of 90 while listening to a fabulous student
project presentation. But, I don't think of myself as retired. I'm not the
retiring type. I think of myself more as an electrician who is rewiring
myself. How many times have I said that I know I can't rock while idly rocking
in a rocking chair. So, to use the shopworn saying, I'm constantly using
Roundup to kill the grass that might grow under my feet and moss that might
gather on my rock. Someone once said that happiness does not come from the way
life is; it comes from the way you choose to see, embrace and live life as it
is. How true, instead of holding on in vain to a mournful "alas," I put the
new happiness of "wow" into what is now. How does it go: let go of dusk's
setting sun and grab hold of the rising sun of a new dawn?
I am an interesting guy with a ton of interests. I don't have to look
for things to do. Sure I don't fish, play golf or bridge or mahjong. I'm
presenting sessions on college teaching at major conferences; I'm developing a
consultancy on teaching for anyone who would have me on their campus--at my
fees; I'm building a new website; I've got a new Facebook page; I'm collecting
my Random Thoughts and have enough to self-publish seven volumes; I'm planning
out a book on how I taught the Holocaust course; I'm finally publishing my
history of Valdosta's early Jewish community, and it should be out in a couple
of months; I'm an avid flower gardener; I'm a fix-it-upper; I'm designing a
water fountain and Japanese garden for the backyard; I and Susie will travel
the world. I will spoil my grandmunchkins rotten through and through. I create,
imagine, and occasionally sculpt. I exercise daily; every other day, I fast
walk five miles with 100 yard sprints every quarter mile, all of which averages
out to 12 minute miles; every other day I do a weightlift workout with 10 lb
dumbbells to keep my upper body trim; every day I mediate, usually with my
flowers. So, I keep myself in mental, spiritual, and physical shape.
Why? If I had to pare down the core of my outlook on life, on every
part of life, on everything that guided me in the classroom, that would would
be: love. If I had to give a one-minute commencement address to graduating
students, or if I had the courage to give a one minute teaching workshop to
faculty, it would go something like this: "Love, love, love, love. Be a poster
person for love. Love loving. Love life. Love yourself. Love others. Love being
loved by others. Love serving others. Love unconditionally. Love everyday. Do
what you love doing and love what you do. Become the person you truly love
becoming. Be with someone you love and love being with, and be with someone who
loves you and loves being with you. You've leaped over the learning bar. Now go
out and raise high your loving bar. Get into the flow of love and let
everything you think, feel, and do flow from it. Let love direct and energize
you. Trust me. Do that and you'll find a life at its best. Don't, and you'll be
one miserable puppy. That’s it. Now, let’s get out the hell out of here as fast
as we can, and party."
Coming to think of it, this answer is not an aside. Without true love,
as a line in the theme song in Alfie said, we merely are. So, it's on point
for everything in life, especially in the classroom and with students.
Make it a good day
-Louis-
Louis Schmier
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta, Ga 31602
(C) 229-630-0821 /\ /\ /\ /\
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/ \/ \_ \/ / \/
/\/ / \ /\ \
//\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/
\_/__\ \
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" - / \_
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