Retirement is one of those events that some look forward to with eager anticipation while others feel sad about the prospect. Then there are some—like me—who don’t experience either of these thoughts or emotions.
On February 22, 2012, about a month before I officially retired from NASPA, I wrote the following in my journal:
As I get nearer to the final days at NASPA, I feel no sadness. I feel satisfaction and pray that all continues to prosper with the organization.
On March 1, 2012, I wrote:
I don’t think I’m going to miss my role. I just want to keep doing something that is meaningful to move our world forward. I want to add my part, fulfill my purpose, live up to my potential.
These were goals for my life. I had no plans for what I would do in retirement.
Being without the responsibility of a job and having no reason to get up, to get dressed, and to leave the house would be a little like a free fall. I had to rely on my faith that without these routines and trappings of identity, I would still be able to maintain confidence in myself and optimism about my future.
As I dropped through the space of what could be a professional void, unexpected safety nets and lifelines afforded me a soft landing in the field of retirement after my last day as NASPA Executive Director on March 30, 2012. At the same time as I was consulting, facilitating workshops, and making speeches (see boxed list), I was working on writing projects with 2012 deadlines and organizing and filing a career’s worth of papers and notes at home.
What gave me the energy to follow through on the activities and experiences I had during the year that I “retired” was my excitement and curiosity about the experiment of having “no plans.”
Since this experiment, I’ve stopped making New Year’s resolutions and I’ve begun each year with optimism and “no plans.”
- 4/15-16: Indiana State University
- 4/18: Skype with master’s class, DePaul University
- 4/25: in person with graduate class, University of Maryland, College Park
- 5/21-29: China on behalf of NASPA
- 6/4: Taylor University in Indiana
- 6/19-23: Portland State University
- 7/9: conference, Los Angeles
- 7/28: conference, Manhattan
- 7/30-8/3: University of Vermont
- 8/16: University of Southern California
- 8/30-9/1: Evergreen State University
- 9/17-19: California State University, Fullerton
- 9/18: Skype with graduate students, Colorado State University
- 9/19-21: conference, Washington, DC
- 9/30: Skype with graduate students, Oregon State University
- 10/16-17: Berkeley College, New York City
- 10/19: conference, Baltimore
- 11/1-2: Wake Forest University
- 11/18-19: conference, Hawaii
Gwen Dungy 