This post is written from a community library in a small town in Saskatchewan. Travel is one of the diversions of retirement. This post is an experiment about resourcefulness during a trip to visit an elderly family member.
Most people cite travel as one of the key activities for the ‘post work’ time of life. On this trip I decided to free myself of the usual portable devices as I would be in a remote area of Canada without wireless access and with no internet cafes. However, since all Canadian Public Libraries are now equipped with great internet access, I can do a quick post.
Many others who are further along on their retirement journey have already learned the power of resourcefulness when travelling — and when at home.
Resourcefulness can be thought about as both external or internal but it always begins with ingenuity. Both external and internal resourcefulness depend on personal creativity and some searching — either in terms of community/public resources — or, more importantly, internal searching of the for mind and spirit resources.
In terms of external resources, there are the wonderful public places — libraries, parks, walking trails, beaches, museums, art galleries, universities, churches, and some government/legislative buildings. These are always great places to visit when travelling or when simply exploring your own community. Most of the public places are spaces where learning can occur. Often there are public education courses, lectures and unplanned encounters with interesting people.
Perhaps the public space offers a place of solitude/reflection and the soul-restoring power of nature or art. Perhaps the public space offers social interaction and refreshing dialogue with others. Learning how to find and use public places will offer opportunities to learn and to grow in the ‘post work’ journey. Experiencing and evolving are essential to happiness.
Finding internal resources often creates more of a challenge as many of us have filled our lives with ‘busyness’ driven by work demands and the relentless schedule of the office environment. In contrast, internal resources reside within the realms of our conscious and unconscious experience.
Finding the internal resources involves beginning that internal journey to seek the depths of personal wisdom, intelligence, learning and experience. Searching internally for resources that lead to personal creativity also takes time. It requires solitude and searching into aspects of both mental and spiritual life.
Finding the external resources seems the easier part of the journey for many as this is a problem solving exercise similar to problem solving done during work life. Many busy professional have treated their inner journey as an indulgence. While finding the internal resources is more of a challenge, this is part of the joyful process of integration of the intellect and the intuition. Taking time to think about how life experiences give meaning is part of the discovery of one’s inner sense of truth.
The post work era offers opportunity to explore new resources and discover vistas of the mind and soul. Yoga classes teach that exercising the body through the asanas leads to calming the mind.
The journey to discover inner resources has similar aspects and by discovering and using the external resources, the pathways to the joyful process of exploring the mind and the spirit opens and the beauty of new learning begins!
Having an unexpected encounter today with an interesting person in our local library and the coffee shop is what made this day exceptional.