Continuing my personal ritual of taking a long meditative walk on Yom Kippur, this morning I headed toward Morro Bay and Cayucos.  For me, the process involves eating lightly so I can walk without fainting, turning off electronics while walking (no podcasts or audiobooks to distract me or change my focus), and letting my mind wander to what inspires me.  Meandering while being surrounded by the natural rhythm of the ocean allows my mind to reflect on what nudges it.

Today, I felt a series of transitions.  San Luis Obispo was warm and sunny while Morro Bay was foggy and cool.  The sand changed from hot and soft to cold and wet.  The sounds vacillated between highway car noise and waves hitting the beach.

As I walked, my mind first focused on travel, the trips I’ve recently enjoyed and the upcoming adventures that await me.  Being the planner that I am, I already have a general idea of where I’d like to go in 2023.  🙂

Next, my mind wandered to photography and some creative projects I’m working on.  I mentally sketched out a few ideas and am anxious to get started on them.

While shuffling along the beach, I realized that the big recent transition in my life – retirement – allows me to travel more and stretch my creativity, hence my initial thoughts surrounding these two activities.  This big change in my life means there are times when my life is busy and other times when it is slow, times when I’m surrounded by family, friends, and community, and other times when I am alone, times when I feel accomplished and other times when I feel less fulfilled, times I believe I’m contributing and other times I wish I were doing more.

When I think of what fills my days as a retiree, I see a daily pattern of moving my body, doing some type of chore, and doing something fun and, often, social.  There are days when I give back to our community – for example, I usher at the Performing Arts Center and I donate blood (thank you, spinach!).  The “how can I make the world a better place” part of my life is still not what I want it to be.  From today’s Yom Kippur reflections, my biggest takeaway – my most important future task – is to figure out what I can do to help the greater good.  My hope is that during next year’s Yom Kippur walk, I’ll be able to reflect on how I contributed more to making our world a better place.  כן יהי רצון

Photo from April 2022 since I didn’t take any pictures today.