it just can't be the place

 i'm realizing that youtube just can't be the place where i document my life after FIRE. because, hapily, it's just not splashy enough. not headline clicking. and in this calm moment, that's more than okay. 

but i do love sharing information. my ears perk up. being able to share information that helped me to help someone else is one of my life's joys.

it's why went into teaching.

and it turns out ...just like that venture... this one is failing.

because for me the sharing of the information enough. i'm not overly concerned with the packaging. even though i one hundred percent fall for the marketing, it's just not in my nature to bamboozle people.

and my intentional but not so intentional effort to stop trying to help people has actually given me some perspective. this is offline in real life. people don't take my advice. so i'm at this kind of everlasting crossroads... do i say something or let it be? people really do figure it out.

and the 1 in 1,000 chance something i say actually causes someone to make a change... um... not quite enough.

i choose stability and dependability. 

although... last night someone was asking about 'screwing over their employer'... and i shared the fmla information...

now i have an idea for a post. 

i know i'm not long for vlogging with the lackluster results, but i'll keep going until the engine putters out.

and for past me.. thanks for overturning every rock and then repeating that process. you have laid the foundation for the future stability i need. i no longer have to do that.

and even when i do... or want to.. the past me that suffered reminds me of the pain. and with as little shame as i can muster, i move past the moment.

we did the work, past me...and we get to linger in its fruits... whatever that means...

mostly i'm trying to figure out how to share my FMLA secret... 

i'm back!

 so i hadn't been blogging as infrequently as i had before... haha.. but i'm back... i tried the youtube thing...and it was fun...but much like when i started my FIRE journey and this blog... i thought the masses would be crowding to hear what i had to say

and like the human i am..what a blow to the ego.. when that turned out not to be the case... i quite enjoyed the making of the videos and the coming up of ideas...but yesterday when i checked and one of my videos had 0 views... i was quite down...and it's so public so i HAVE to check (my brain says)... and we know that living life is a different experience for me than some

so i am committed to my mental health for the next year or so; so i won't delete the channel but i have one more fun post that i still have to schedule and then i'll take a break, perhaps forever... i'll probably send the password to another friend in case friend and i are no longer speaking whenever i decide to come back..


all in all you didn't miss much... just this incredibly monumental thing happened in my life (EARLY RETIREMENT!) and i wanted the whole world to celebrate with me...

anyway...life is going swimmingly well..i was finally able to reduce my lexapro dose back from 20 to 10mg... i felt overmedicated to put it simply. like it was like rebound anxiety...

anyway, it's been over a month and i'm fine..

at some point i probably need to make an effort to rebuild community or at least socialize....but luckily i have some pretty easy ways to go through the motions...when i'm ready...

right now, i'm sooo enjoying my alone time...so much reflection..

i do worry every now and then about not having a biopsy on the unspecified breast lump but i felt confident based on the images that it was similar to what i already have. but i'm happy to do that in 2027