A Turning Point Birthday

I was hardly awake this morning when I received my first Happy Birthday BBM. I can always count on our youngest daughter to send greetings, emojis and stickers for all special occasions. Our other two daughters will send me notes later in the day, one when I get to the office, our eldest once she gets off work. After responding, I clicked on my Facebook notifications where my East Coast friends had begun to post greetings. Through the day this continues moving through time zones toward to West. I really appreciate these little notes and greetings, they remind me of all the great people I have gotten to know over the years.

This year's birthday comes at a turning point in my life. After over 22 years working in various provincial and federal government offices I will be retiring from full-time work. Yes, I will be taking the next year to travel and write. I can't say yet what I will be writing or if it will be any good, but I will be writing. Recently, I have begun to spread my creative wings and work on some story ideas that have rumbled around in my head for some time. This is easier said than done after writing mainly government correspondence, newsletters, speeches and talking points for the last two decades. Just the notion of writing creative non-fiction and include feelings and personality into a piece is a foreign notion at this point, but I am working at it.

I decided a few weeks ago to register for a creative writing class. This has been one of the best gifts I could have given myself. Communicating with other writers and realizing that I'm not the only one facing these same challenges has been eye opening. Writing can be a somewhat solitary activity so having the support system of a class is somewhat therapeutic. Having other aspiring writers to bounce ideas off of is very helpful.

So this year's birthday is kind of exciting. Like the birth of a new phase of my life and with the support of my family and friends, I'm looking forward to it.