Being retired gives my mind more time to wander. I’ve always tried to make room in my life for creative thinking. When I was working a very demanding job in which there were always undone tasks because of a lack of time, I made opportunities for activities that allowed my mind to wander. Routine home life tasks such as mowing the lawn or washing the dishes didn’t require intense concentration in the way that other jobs such as composing sermons or sitting with individuals and families in crisis did. Even when I was very busy, I found times to go for a walk or paddle a canoe. I found that doing the largest part of my weekly study early in the week gave me time to mull a sermon for a few days before committing to a particular framework and outline.

I am now retired. I preach on very rare occasions. I have two Sundays lined up for preaching between now and the end of the year. The addition of those will bring my annual total to four. When I was working, there were a few weeks when I preached four different sermons in the same week. There is more time in my life for unstructured thought.

In some ways I am no less busy now than I was when I was working. Those close to me know how I tend to start more projects than I am able to finish. For as long as I can remember I have been eager to start new ventures and thought that I could accomplish more than I am able. I am not afraid of lofty goals. As a result, I have a lot of things going on in my life.

I am active in our church. I serve on the board of a nonprofit. I care for the bee colonies on the farm. I help with light maintenance on the farm including oil changes, home repairs and other tasks. I write this daily journal. I am building a cedar kayak and believe I can launch it early next spring. As is my usual practice, I have at least three books that I am reading and a stack of books on my “to read” list.

On Monday evening, I met with an editor to learn more about a small press and the kinds of books they publish. I have carried the dream of writing a book and having it published for decades. One of the lines I sometimes quip is, “The reason I am not published as a book author is that I haven’t written a book.” That is close to the truth. I have a list of published items that are mostly curricula pieces with a few journal articles along the way. I have never completed a book length manuscript. But the dream of being a published author remains. My meeting with the editor got me to thinking of several different projects that I might pursue.

I have an archive of 17 years of writing a 1,000 word journal entry every day. With considerable effort, and perhaps assistance of an archivist, I could draw out a collection of personal essays around several different themes. On my computer are two significant collections of prayers that I have written, one drawn from the discipline of writing a unique prayer for each class I taught, another the prayers for the earth and creation justice that I have prepared for various events over the years. I have a file of poems I have written and perhaps a few of them are worth editing and collecting into a volume. There are several possibilities of book-length writing projects that could occupy me for years to come.

So what did I do? After meeting with the editor, I got up yesterday morning and went for an hour long bike ride. Then I came home, took a shower, ran an errand, and sat down at my computer and wrote several thousand words of the beginning of a short story. I saved the document in my “Writing Projects” folder, which has a sub folder of “Short Stories.” The unfinished story joins several other unfinished stories. I’m pretty good at starting projects. I just don’t ever get them all finished.

I’m not a fiction writer. I have no illusions about writing a novel. I think of myself as a writer, and as a story teller, but not as a fiction writer. Then again, I don’t think of myself as a poet. I write poetry and belong to a poetry writers’ group because I love language and I enjoy the discipline of writing assignments that expand my thinking.

I think my attempts at writing short stories are a type of mental exercise aimed at keeping me thinking creatively more than they are attempts at producing a finished project. On that score, I don’t need to have a book published with my name on the cover to think of myself as a writer. I started the process of publishing my journal entries on my website as a personal discipline. I wanted to become a better writer. I don’t know how much my writing has improved, but I know that writing is important to my sense of keeping mentally fit. As I experience the normal decline in short term memory that comes to aging people, I find meaning in things that challenge my thinking.

I’ll continue to mull possible writing projects while I try to complete a few tasks that I have started. I’ll continue to let my mind wander as I go for walks and ride my bike. I’ll continue to sit at the keyboard and allow words to flow across the screen of my computer. I’ll pen a few poems, write a few prayers, and tell a few stories.

When I was in my first year of college I set a few personal goals for myself. Those goals included succeeding in my academic year and earning a doctorate. They included becoming married and raising a family. One of the goals on that list was to write and have a book published by the time I reached 30. I’ve gone past 30 years twice with more than a decade on top and still there is no book. I’m still mulling the idea, but don’t look for my name in your local bookstore yet.