I got my “welcome back” letter for school. Trying it one more time…or two. Totally depends upon the eyes.?
Between knowing I go back to full time work in just over two weeks and finding what seemed to be a plethora of articles on ‘bucket lists’ when I was doing some research, I am in “get your butt in gear, girl” mode. Have I done a tenth of what I said I was doing this Summer? Heck, no!
And that is why I have been doing the Susie Homemaker routine today. Yuck. Fridge emptied, scrubbed, refilled. Kitchen floor about a third hands-and-knees scrubbed. A few other, more general tasks done. Break time!!!!!
Bucket lists. I had all sorts of projects on mine for the Summer. My bucket list had a bunch of pesky chores (like shampooing the carpet and wiping down walls) and some fun stuff as well (New York City or bust!) I think of it as a pretty average, Summer list.
Talked to a young colleague who just went through a nasty divorce. She was saying how she missed out on her usual ‘extras’ this Summer. Farmers’ markets, movies, etc. She was busy working out custody schedules and learning how to be a single Mom!
We talked about how that is not uncommon after a ‘natural disaster’. You know, floods, hurricanes, cheating spouses, vision loss, etc. The first thing you do is get your essentials reasonably well together. After that it is fun and dream time!
Maribel Steel covered essentially the same concept in her VisionAware post about her two bucket lists. She called her lists ‘getting through the day’ and her ‘outrageous’ list.
I pretty much got through my ‘getting through’ list a year ago. Assistive technology, transportation, etc. There was a time not too long ago that all I wanted to do was be able to read a bill and somehow get my sorry self to Walmart. It is very possible many of you have those sorts of things on your list right now.
It does get better. It may not always stay better, but it gets better.
Ask for help. Use the resources provided. Learn to plan ahead. Way far ahead. (My one friend and I laugh about how I now could probably plan all of the support services for a major military campaign.) Be flexible. There is more than one way to skin a cat (and WHO exactly would want to do THAT? ?)
Then Maribel has her ‘outrageous’ list. Yes, some of her ideas are a tad out there, but yours don’t have to be. Lots of my second list things are small adventures. For example, a friend asked if I would want to go hot air ballooning at a festival this Fall. Oh, I am SO there! The second list had New York City on it. It had Briggs (blues fest) and the puzzle room. All doable. All done.
Essentially, I see the second list as the list of things you want to do when you ‘recover’ yourself and get back to being you. It reminds us vision loss and all the nonsense that comes with it are not the end of your road, just a detour. And like all detours? It eventually drops you back to pretty much where you want to be.
Next: MacTel
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