My employment email account has been suspended
The one that received hundreds of messages every day
Notifications designed to keep me apprised
Leaving me with an adjustment I did not anticipate.
For some time I have been stepping back from engagement
Not responding to almost all system alert warnings
Letting others figure out the problem and solution
But staying informed by being on the cc: list.
Now I have lost access to 18 years of messages
Countless tens of thousands of interactions with others
Preventing me from looking back at the archives
Keeping me from habitually checking for new arrivals.
So this is what full retirement means to begin with
Not just something that you no longer have to do
But also a closure that shuts you out, placing you outside
In a kind of severance from your previous life.
For me the quiet is good as I let go of the commotion
Monitoring only my personal email inbox activity
Keeping up with friends and family
Sometimes reaching out to former colleagues.
When you have advance notice of termination
Giving time to prepare for the transition
And no need of the income from employment
This is the exit anyone might wish for.
Now I can do whatever I want all day every day
Such a privileged life so few are able to have
Something I never expected would happen for me
With really nothing to do but enjoy being alive.
