What are days for?
Days are where we live.
They come, they wake us
Time and time over.
They are to be happy in:
Where can we live but days?
Ah, solving that question
Brings the priest and the doctor
In their long coats
Running over the fields.
At my 70th birthday celebration I raised a question with several people: what should my goals be for the next ten years? What does one do from 70 to 80? It seemed to me that I had completed the projects I undertook at retirement. I had created a new life in New York and France, found new friends and interests. Distressingly, there was little I wanted to accomplish, or do; few new places to visit; no bucket list.
The possible solution I found was to attend to “days” one day at a time. This requires examining each day and making it the best day possible or examining a collection of days and making them the best possible. This project does not accumulate accomplishments. Attention must be paid to the harmonious whole of the day. I do not yet know how to do this. It appears that a daily story and memory should be created.
Update, 8/5/23: My project for this year is to adopt schedules to structure and propel the days:
Daily:
- Breakfast
- Bath
- French
- Meditation
- Chores
Weekly
- Two Lance workouts (one in person, one virtual)
- One lunch to new restaurant and location
- One theater
- One gallery or museum
- Two walks
- Two visits to gym
The day is long, . It flirts with nothingness. It always does.