About 18 months ago, when I was setting myself up to retire at 65, I drew a quotation in my bullet journal: Don't think of retiring as what you're giving up, but as what you're gaining. I had some trepidation, not so much about missing my job but about finances and physical location.

I'm 3 months in now and my days are pretty full with various creative hobbies and projects, a fiber artist weekly group meeting, a book club, doing two weekly online yoga-balance type classes, and doing lots of reading.

I do sometimes wonder if 6 months from now, this will be enough to sustain me, but I haven't really missed my job. I had tried to get my employer to let me work half time for another year, but they wouldn't go for it.

I have some vague intentions to go back to my roots in graphic design and create digital printables for sale, but right now, I want to settle into a different lifestyle. I have no spouse or children to account for. It takes a while, I'm told up to a year, to transition into this phase of your life. My recent milestone in my path was taking down the sash "Retired and fabulous" my old boss gave me at my retirement party. It was time. I'm still both but don't need to trumpet it anymore!