What Now?
In the near future, I will pay off my mortgage, substantially lowering my need for a steady income. This leads to the questions: why work, and what now? I also feel I need to quit my job within the next six months to avoid becoming a cynical ass again.
I'm experiencing the highly privileged and rare quandary of having more money than I need to meet my needs.
Retirement savings? I currently spend less than ten-thousand dollars a year. It seems silly to expect that at a later time I will want to lead a more luxurious lifestyle, or that I should hoard money for a time 30 or more years away. I may not still be here in 2040 or by that time today's money could be meaningless.
There are some short term projects I'm thinking about for my house - buying an induction stove, building a greenhouse, renovating the bathroom, a sauna... - but these goals seem frivolous and it would only be a few more months before I once again have a financial surplus. What then - more consumption? I have learned that while unnecessary consumption does result in gratification - it is usually short lived and hollow.
Travel is another option. I'm skeptical of doing the tourist thing. Tourism leads to a superficial experience and damage to local cultures. Possibly an insanely long bike ride - such as Prince Rupert back to Winnipeg in the spring? Or, maybe Austin,Tx next summer for bike bike. I don't currently have a passport, though that can be remedied.
A fourth possibility is returning to University in some way. Perhaps auditing a course or two - or maybe more seriously. I have extremely little inclination to study anything technical in a formal setting ever again. Based on many of the casual conversations I've had in the past several years, I feel like gender studies is something I'd like to get a better grounding in. However, I think I may have burned my bridges and ruined almost any chance of returning to University when I quit in 2005. I can admit now that I was more than minorly depressed at the time and as a result wasn't able to deal with things like properly withdrawing from courses. Consequently I think the chances of getting a transcript which would allow me to successfully re-apply are slight.
I'm experiencing the highly privileged and rare quandary of having more money than I need to meet my needs.
Retirement savings? I currently spend less than ten-thousand dollars a year. It seems silly to expect that at a later time I will want to lead a more luxurious lifestyle, or that I should hoard money for a time 30 or more years away. I may not still be here in 2040 or by that time today's money could be meaningless.
There are some short term projects I'm thinking about for my house - buying an induction stove, building a greenhouse, renovating the bathroom, a sauna... - but these goals seem frivolous and it would only be a few more months before I once again have a financial surplus. What then - more consumption? I have learned that while unnecessary consumption does result in gratification - it is usually short lived and hollow.
Travel is another option. I'm skeptical of doing the tourist thing. Tourism leads to a superficial experience and damage to local cultures. Possibly an insanely long bike ride - such as Prince Rupert back to Winnipeg in the spring? Or, maybe Austin,Tx next summer for bike bike. I don't currently have a passport, though that can be remedied.
A fourth possibility is returning to University in some way. Perhaps auditing a course or two - or maybe more seriously. I have extremely little inclination to study anything technical in a formal setting ever again. Based on many of the casual conversations I've had in the past several years, I feel like gender studies is something I'd like to get a better grounding in. However, I think I may have burned my bridges and ruined almost any chance of returning to University when I quit in 2005. I can admit now that I was more than minorly depressed at the time and as a result wasn't able to deal with things like properly withdrawing from courses. Consequently I think the chances of getting a transcript which would allow me to successfully re-apply are slight.