Doing What You Love

 

My dad always said that if you can find something that you love to do, you’ll never need to retire.  That happened to me last year.  I sold my software company and started a new career in writing.  It wasn’t really “new” since I wrote technical manuals, computer help guides, and magazine articles over the years for work – but now….I could write whatever I liked.

I tried to have a writing “job” two decades ago and completed UCLA’s screenwriting and advanced screenwriting program.  I wrote a dozen screenplays and got my first gig of writing a screenplay for an animation studio and my first check of $1200.  Wow!  But then, tragedy struck our family and we needed to  help raise and support our four young granddaughters. Financial worries crept up, and I had to abandon that dream of being a writer and take on some pretty hefty responsibilities as I ran my software company as we got our granddaughters to soccer, swimming, dentists and doctors.

One of my first screenplays was based on a woman I met at an assisted living center, Lily.  At 86, she joked that she was “in God’s waiting room,” and often told me that she was ready to die.  I would see her weekly when I would help the elderly send and receive emails from their families.  It was a volunteer program that we developed called Web on Wheels.  I would set up my computer in the activity room and envied the residents with so much time on their hands to do crafts, play bingo, and even learn to dance!

Time for Lily was a First-Round Finalist in Script Magazine Open Door Contest back in 2000 – 23 years ago.  I’ve rewritten it 19 times – including the most recent one after getting coverage.  Now, I think it is finally close to being “screen-ready,” and I’m submitting it again to various contests. If you’d like to read it, here is the link.  https://sandijerome.com/free/TimeforLilyComedyRW.pdf

The real Lily that inspired me died in 2006 at 92, and now I’m closer to Lily’s age when we first met, than to the “young” character, Megan, on who I based my hectic life.  But today, I am truly doing what I love – writing.

I recently met someone who appears to also be doing what he loves.  The Festival of the Arts at Disney’s Epcot is my least favorite festival – with the Food and Garden being my first choice.  At the arts festival, the food is often “deconstructed,” – but this year, they had a hummingbird cake and soft-shell crab – that were amazing.  Along with not being big foodie lovers of elevated cuisine, we also don’t appreciate fine art that much.  But we’re huge fans of Grogu, and The Mandalorian and this print caught Keith’s eye.  We bought it for $89 – which after our annual passholder discount and tax, was $85.  Then, the Disney cast member told us that the artist was back in Germany at the Thomas Kinkade booth and would sign our print.

Well…that was quite a signing.  Not only did I get it signed, but I got to pick out what was on the back and I picked Yoda.  It was also a special treat for the artist Dirk Wunderlich to explain to me why Grogu cannot be Yoda as a baby.  Dirk is about seven years older than me and is a Thomas Kinkade legacy artist who has done images and logos for Disney.  We talked about my ties to Anaheim (my great-grandmother once owned orange groves where Disneyland now stands) and my hometown of Escondido and why I now live in Clermont – at 300 feet.  He has selected a home in Northern California at 400 feet! We’re both trying to avoid death by earthquakes or hurricanes/global warming floods.

I would imagine, at about 75 years old, that Dirk can live anywhere or do anything, but he spends long days at Epcot, drawing on the back of his prints – for free – and talking to people like me.  He appears to truly be truly doing what he loves and will probably never retire.

Visit my website at sandracookjerome.com to read my screenplays or books - or if you want to buy a book, there are pictures and links on my website. I hope you are doing what you love!

Here's a link to my YouTube about my visit with Dirk Wunderlich at Epcot - https://youtu.be/oeq9eSz-yos

 

Part of Being There is Getting There

 

Traveling can be frustrating.  Flights are late, lines are long, and people are annoying. I traveled for my work about 100,000 miles a year and it was hard.  I wanted to either be home or at my destination.  I ended up creating a little mantra; “part of being there is getting there.”  This meant I needed to enjoy the travel experience and be productive and comfortable on the trip. I have the time now that I'm retired.

When I go on vacation, I try to make my travel and airport time part of the fun. Last month, we went on one of our longest journeys.  Yes, we have traveled farther; Japan, Australia, and New Zealand-but this was our longest trip ever.  We went on an 8-day Viking River Cruise on the Rhine River that goes from Basel to Amsterdam and spent 14 days away from home. It started with a simple flight from Orlando to Basel, Switzerland which you can do in 12 hours, but we ended up spending 34 hours.  

The first extra 12 hours was because the parking garage was full at the Orlando Airport and we ended up spending the night at an airport hotel to guarantee a space for our van.  We don’t like using airport shuttles and don’t have any friends or family to drive us to the airport; thus, we got to start our vacation early.  I enjoyed myself; it was a lovely hotel and I took a couple of hot baths because hotels keep their room much colder than our house. 

Next was the problem with labor shortages at all airports.  I had been reading on a couple Viking Cruise groups that people were missing their flights due to tight connections and slow passport control and security.  I changed our flights to provide us with a six-hour layover in Washington Dulles and four hours in Munich.  Yes, you read that right – 6-hour layover! 

Most flights to Europe leave the Northeast in the early evening and most connections like the Orlando to Washington Dulles leave in the afternoon.  But leaving Orlando in the afternoon means troubles with thunderstorms from May to November and after 2 PM.  I found a nice flight that would get us to Dulles leaving at 9 AM.  But since the overnight flight to Europe leaves around 6 PM – that this a long time in Dulles.  But when you think about that – what’s the problem? Airports are fun places if you let them be. 

Since we hadn’t had a vacation in decades, I had saved up enough for the United Polaris lay-flat seats and that included access to the amazing Polaris lounge at Dulles.  This isn’t like a normal crowded United Club, instead, it had a restaurant, bar, buffet, coffee/tea/juice stations, and lots of open space for walking, reading, and napping.  If you want a serious nap, you can take a hot shower and then get a private napping room.  It was probably the only time I’d experienced this level of luxury on my retirement income, but it was fun. We enjoyed the Lufthansa lounge in Munich and sampled German food and treats.

I did a pre-cruise extension to enjoy the city of Basel and to make sure we’d arrive at our ship in time and planned 2 extra days in Amsterdam that turned into 3 days when a hurricane hit Orlando.  I didn’t need to worry, because I had prepared our house for the hurricane and my neighbor regularly texted me updates.  

I keep in mind that “getting there” is part of the vacation and to make it fun.  You can either be upset with a delayed flight or be thankful that you have more time to look around the airport and explore the shops, and food, or merely people-watch. It is not important to “be there” anymore.  I have the time.

I had so many stressful years when I had to be somewhere on a certain date and time because there were clients waiting for me, but now, I don’t worry about it – or build in plenty of “buffer time.”  Preparing, planning, and enjoying is my travel mantra as I start working on our next trip.

If you would like to read more about this Viking River Cruise trip, I’m writing a free e-book

https://sandijerome.com/free/ActThreeTravelSandiJerome.pdf

I’ve also created YouTube videos for my travel playlist

https://www.youtube.com/sandijerome/playlists

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