Eating an elephant
Mar. 15th, 2014 08:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
abqdanFor the last week, and for at least another week, feeling somewhat overwhelmed. I didn't ever intend to be this busy in retirement, but I also have a hard time saying no...
For three years I've run my massage business out of an acupuncture clinic. This has brought me a lot of referrals, minimizing the need to advertise. However, the clinic changed ownership in January, and I found out (in a round about way...) that the new owner plans to close this location in June. She'll be taking the client base to a new location (she thinks) but won't have room for me. So I started looking for a new office space. I share the current location with another massage therapist, so I needed to find a space that would work for both of us. I'll also have to change my strategy for finding new clients.
Last year, with an eye to the future, I completed the requirements for an RMTI license (Registered Massage Therapy Instructor) so that I could start teaching massage classes. Although I've been a TA for the massage school for three years, I haven't been offered any full teaching classes in areas I could cover without the RMTI (business, ethics, Polarity). I thought adding an RMTI would give me more opportunity. Well of course, as soon as I started looking for a new office, I was offered a full teaching position in Swedish massage. My first course will be in October, and in preparation for that I'm now co-teaching the current class. (And co-teaching is in some ways more stressful than teaching solo - students will always prefer one instructor over the other; plus, I have to do things the way the lead instructor wants, not necessarily how I'd choose to handle the material).
And about the same time as all that, I had a chance encounter at a senior center that left me committed to teaching computer classes to seniors.
All these activities converged this week. I had my first day in Swedish class without the lead instructor, lecturing on muscle anatomy and Petrissage technique; I received the keys to a new office space and had to clear the old one; and my first computer class is coming up on Tuesday.
Somehow in all this, I decided to also attend a Country Western dance class on Thursday evenings, as well as line dance lessons on Fridays.
Although I gave notice to the IAGSDC that I was no longer going to maintain their website (after 10 years of doing so) they have been unable to find anyone with the necessary skills and time to take it on - it's a custom data-driven website that is used to process registrations for many events each year; and I have a completely irrational feeling of responsibility to fix things that go wrong, and help users run their events, eight months after resigning. I've received no public acknowledgment or thanks from the officers of the organization in years, though various individual members have been appreciative of my efforts; so I do find it difficult to deal with this situation. Just walking away is one option, but I can't quite bring myself to do that.
I am feeling overwhelmed. Things will settle down in a week or two, when the new office is up and running, and I have a few solo teaches in Swedish under my belt. The computer class is not really a heavy lift for me in terms of material, it's just an issue dealing with the logistics with the senior center and some curmudgeonly volunteers there that 'look after' the computer equipment.
Today's project; finish setting up the furniture, lighting, sound, decor etc in the new treatment room.
Retirement is turning out to be hard work. Maybe I should just get a full-time job somewhere.
For three years I've run my massage business out of an acupuncture clinic. This has brought me a lot of referrals, minimizing the need to advertise. However, the clinic changed ownership in January, and I found out (in a round about way...) that the new owner plans to close this location in June. She'll be taking the client base to a new location (she thinks) but won't have room for me. So I started looking for a new office space. I share the current location with another massage therapist, so I needed to find a space that would work for both of us. I'll also have to change my strategy for finding new clients.
Last year, with an eye to the future, I completed the requirements for an RMTI license (Registered Massage Therapy Instructor) so that I could start teaching massage classes. Although I've been a TA for the massage school for three years, I haven't been offered any full teaching classes in areas I could cover without the RMTI (business, ethics, Polarity). I thought adding an RMTI would give me more opportunity. Well of course, as soon as I started looking for a new office, I was offered a full teaching position in Swedish massage. My first course will be in October, and in preparation for that I'm now co-teaching the current class. (And co-teaching is in some ways more stressful than teaching solo - students will always prefer one instructor over the other; plus, I have to do things the way the lead instructor wants, not necessarily how I'd choose to handle the material).
And about the same time as all that, I had a chance encounter at a senior center that left me committed to teaching computer classes to seniors.
All these activities converged this week. I had my first day in Swedish class without the lead instructor, lecturing on muscle anatomy and Petrissage technique; I received the keys to a new office space and had to clear the old one; and my first computer class is coming up on Tuesday.
Somehow in all this, I decided to also attend a Country Western dance class on Thursday evenings, as well as line dance lessons on Fridays.
Although I gave notice to the IAGSDC that I was no longer going to maintain their website (after 10 years of doing so) they have been unable to find anyone with the necessary skills and time to take it on - it's a custom data-driven website that is used to process registrations for many events each year; and I have a completely irrational feeling of responsibility to fix things that go wrong, and help users run their events, eight months after resigning. I've received no public acknowledgment or thanks from the officers of the organization in years, though various individual members have been appreciative of my efforts; so I do find it difficult to deal with this situation. Just walking away is one option, but I can't quite bring myself to do that.
I am feeling overwhelmed. Things will settle down in a week or two, when the new office is up and running, and I have a few solo teaches in Swedish under my belt. The computer class is not really a heavy lift for me in terms of material, it's just an issue dealing with the logistics with the senior center and some curmudgeonly volunteers there that 'look after' the computer equipment.
Today's project; finish setting up the furniture, lighting, sound, decor etc in the new treatment room.
Retirement is turning out to be hard work. Maybe I should just get a full-time job somewhere.
