2 years ago, I found myself unexpectedly having to retire early. It wasn’t something I wanted to do but it happened. However, there was a pleasant side effect of retiring. I have dealt with chronic pain for many years. When I stopped commuting and sitting at a computer all day my pain level went way down. Now most days my initial dose of meds gets me through the whole day. I do still have the occasional “bad pain day” but it is no longer the norm.
However …
The Southern California Renaissance Faire does not have its own property; we lease park space from the county of Los Angeles and build/re-assemble our faire anew each year. I willing spend, as a volunteer, 30+ hours a week doing what I do to support the guild I am in at the faire. Yeah, call it full-time work. I realized during the pre-faire weekends part of ren-faire, when we were doing the build, that my pain level was back to chronic. It is my body’s way of saying, “Hey, you’re not anything close to a young man anymore.” Based upon not wanting to be in continuing pain if I had a choice, I chose. I announced my retirement from running or working in the feast kitchen when this season ends. I’ve been a part of the kitchen for 15 years with this being my 9th year leading. Yes, last year my daughter was supposed to be the team leader but in practice it didn’t work out. Come next spring I know it will feel weird not gearing up for another season, but my body will be saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!
ETA: Part of my time apart from faire is sill doing support stuff for my terminally-ill family member.
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