“I have no definite talent or trade, and how I stay alive is largely a matter of magic.”
– Charles Bukowski
As 541-days of retirement planning roll along rather nicely and things seem to be falling into place, some countries are embarking on a trade war. It is too early to say who it will be good or bad for, no matter what the politicians say to justify their actions. A war is not fair, no matter what kind of war it is and the winners and losers are never obvious. The aggressors’ and defenders are switching sides, if not in action then in rhetoric. No matter who is right and wrong, we are still experiencing the consequences of a trade war. Justice doesn’t seem to have much to do with it.
A trade war is not to be complained about against the backdrop of the physical wars being battled in the world today. However, those who should be paying attention to helping end the physical wars are now spending time and money on a trade war, which is ridiculous. The West has it so good and instead we are fighting with each other over money. Of course, this conflict kicked off by the actions of a few in one country, and is now leading everyone to the war path with no choice but to defend themselves. It is understandable how we got here, less so how we get out of it.
What does a person do who is counting down 541-days to retirement in the midst of a trade war? The consequences of this situation are common as a concept, (downturns in the stock market), but never before has a trade war been played out across all channels of media with such a lack of diplomacy, dignity and decorum. The ticker tape of daily news is splashed across the screen like a train wreck. It is a spectacle. It is a circus of inappropriate behaviour. The aggressive nature of this trade war leaves a trail of possible devastation in its wake. Thankfully, unlike a physical war there is not a swath of dead bodies.
We can only control our reactions. The actions of individual people can lift the conversation back up to the expectations of society we once held dear. We can debate our differences and try to understand each other, looking for the best possible outcome for everyone, not just one person or side. We can take a deep breath and remember that this too, shall pass. I suppose we can express gratitude that the situation is not worse.
I’ve decided now is the time to begin some legacy work. I cannot control or influence the stock market. This trade war, if long lasting and significant, may affect my early retirement withdrawal strategy. But, I’m not switching course and staying at work longer. Instead, I’m beginning a project that has interested me for a long time.
The project is a genealogy scrapbook, inspired by, ‘The Cure For Death By Lightening’. Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s debut novel contains a scrapbook as if it were another character in the story. The setting was the second world war in a poor farming family where paper was extremely expensive and rare. The mother in the story put all sorts of bits and bobs into her scrapbook that she kept in the kitchen. I want to create a scrapbook as the story of my ancestors, particularly the women.
“The cure for death by lightning was handwritten in thick, messy blue ink in my mother’s scrapbook, under the recipe for my father’s favourite oatcakes: Dunk the dead by lightning in a cold water bath for two hours and if still dead, add vinegar and soak for an hour more. Beside this, some time later, my mother had written Ha! Ha! in black ink.”
Genealogy is full of facts about men. War records, work and public life, mostly showcases the lived experience of men. I’ve wanted to tell the story of the women in my family but I’ve encountered the same lack of facts. While they may not have had careers in the sense that I have, they had full lives. They contributed. Luckily the historical records through the decades give tidbits of information about women. From this I can surmise what my female ancestors were likely up to, how they might have lived and what they might have thought about or cooked for dinner.
I’m curious to learn about the arc of their lives, through the historical records that have been kept over the ages. There may only be a line or two of text to indicate what women were up to during certain periods of time. The rest will have to be imagined from the facts pertaining to the husbands and sons. It is also easier to know what the condition of all women historically because they had so little agency or choice, until more recently.
This research project really helps me feel gratitude. I have the ability to choose my life path with more freedom than any of my ancestors, including my mother. I’ve never once been told implicitly that I can’t do something because of my gender or my position in society. There may have been discrimination along the way, but I didn’t notice it.
Now as I plan to experience the ultimate in autonomy and freedom in retirement, I’m not going to be bothered by the actions of politicians messing around with each other and causing a slow-down in the economy. Part of a long retirement is being able to weather these rough patches. And so, it begins.
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