Liz Kurkjian-Henry‘The busier you are, the more you get done.’
(my mantra as a working adult)
I’LL DO THAT WHEN I RETIRE
I was a list person. Before Iphones I made to-do lists in a notebook. Each week I had a day to grocery shop, a day to scrub the bathrooms, a day to dust and vacuum, a day to prep meals for the upcoming week. Is there anything more satisfying than crossing off lines on your to-do list? Order and organization in my home gave me order and organization in my soul.
So why now that I’m retired do I get so goddamn little done?
What a gorgeous California closet, I thought when we looked at our house. Pants here, shirts there, dresses up here. Nothing is going to be jammed in. I’ll be able to see everything at a glance. Four years later this closet is begging for a good clean-out. I need to toss the last remnants of my professional life because I am, for real, not going back to any classroom or office. Those size 4 pants don’t fit anymore nor most of these small tops. Nor do I want them to. I don’t want to be that thin again. I like curvier Liz. So why haven’t I tossed them?
‘Liz, get off the phone, stop scrolling though Instagram and Facebook, stop texting, stop watching tv… get off your ass.’
“Yes, so we’ll see you on the 16th. Be sure to have your current wills, your last year’s tax returns, your investment and insurance papers and any other relevant documents with you. And please have that form we sent you filled out.”
I made that appointment a month ago and the form has been sitting on my desk for the last three weeks. The meeting with the trust attorney is looming. I still haven’t gotten the paperwork together and I’m not sure I even know where it all is. What the hell is wrong with me?
‘Liz, get off the phone, stop scrolling though Instagram and Facebook, stop texting, stop watching tv… get off your ass.’
“Liz, how long until you do something with that broccoli and bok choy in the fridge?” my husband asks.
This is not an uncommon refrain in my house. Those veggies that looked so marvelous last week at the farmers market have now become a burden taking up space in the lower bin. I google chicken, bok choy and broccoli and four fabulous recipes pop up. As I scroll through them a message pings on my phone. Which directs me to Instagram. Which directs me to an ad and… oh my God look at those shoes… An hour later…
“Hi. Can I order a chicken Caesar salad and a tuna sub with everything please. Jack will pick up…” An hour later…
Mmm. They do make a good chik Caesar. I wonder if Jack’s gonna finish that sub.. I think I want a bite. Oh crap, those veggies are still there.. hey, so what.
Thank you technology geniuses for waiting until I finished college and
graduate school before inventing cable tv or the Iphone, Netflix or podcasts. if there had been such a thing as the worldwide web or the internet when I was a student, I am not sure I would have even graduated high school. I do not pine EVER for the good old days but I am grateful that these innovations came after I was a well-established adult. Because God knows my mother, my teachers, my bosses would have said to me at least once a day…
‘Liz, get off the phone, stop scrolling though Instagram and Facebook, stop texting, stop watching tv… get off your ass.’
Liz Kurkjian-Henry
October 30, 2021