As I attended my retirement celebrations this week, I considered how fortunate I am to be retiring on my own terms. It’s something I don’t take for granted.

Welcome to the 68^th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a decluttering challenge for the week. In addition to retiring on my own terms, this week’s edition celebrates the end of offshore oil permits in British Columbia, World Ocean Day, and linen closet decluttering.

On my mind this week: Retiring on my own terms

Even though I’m not retiring until the end of the month, this past week was a week of retirement celebrations for me.

My boss was in town, so a group of us went out for a lovely dinner on Wednesday evening. Then, on Thursday, we had my office retirement celebration on the patio behind our office. It turned out to be a beautiful day after the clouds that threatened rain in the morning cleared.

I was overwhelmed by the number of people who dropped in to wish me well. I expected the people I work with every day to attend. But I was so touched that the former boss who hired me into the business 34 years ago made an appearance, along with a couple of retired colleagues. There were also several people I worked with years ago but hadn’t seen much in recent years who popped by. It was a wonderful afternoon with lots of laughs and many memories shared.  

A milestone worth celebrating

All this got me thinking how fortunate I am to be retiring on my own terms and to have the opportunity to celebrate this milestone with my friends and co-workers.

The reality of corporate life today means many don’t get to enjoy this kind of celebration. Some retire because they’re fired or downsized and don’t even get a chance to say goodbye. Others are squeezed out thanks to ageism or philosophical differences with current leaders. Still others retire earlier than expected because of health issues. And anyone who retired during the pandemic had the anticlimactic experience of waving goodbye to a bunch of smiling faces on a screen with no cake and no hugs.

I feel so blessed. I’m thankful for all the amazing people I’ve worked with over the years. And I’m grateful to have had a wonderful career doing work I enjoyed, and work that has a positive impact on people’s lives.

Now that the party is over, I need to get back to work for three more weeks. That said, I do have a couple more lunches and celebrations to look forward to. Because you know what they say about all work and no play…

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Three highlights of the week

It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. In addition to my retirement celebrations, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:

• On Sunday, I submitted the final assignment for my Plain Language in Health Literacy course.
• My daughter Laura arrived home from British Columbia on Saturday morning. She’s back in Ontario for two weeks to attend a work conference. It’s so good to see her.
• On Thursday evening, I enjoyed a lovely early birthday/retirement dinner with a group of friends that I met volunteering with my professional association. As a bonus, we wrapped up our dinner and got off the patio just before the rain hit.  

Things I learned this week

Life is all about learning. Here’s what I learned this week:

British Columbia offshore oil permits end

Score a big win for the environment this week as Chevron Canada surrendered its oil and gas exploration permits off the British Columbia coast. These permits had been in place for over 50 years, despite the federal government’s 1972 moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration.

(Source: Happy Eco News)

Ocean facts

Yesterday was World Ocean Day. Here are some facts about our oceans:

• Oceans cover 70% of the Earth’s surface.
• They produce at least 50% of the oxygen we breathe and absorb about 30% of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions, making them a vital resource in the fight against climate change.
• Each year, millions of tons of plastic end up in the oceans, causing harm to the millions of animal and plant species that inhabit our oceans.

You can help the oceans by reducing single-use plastics, choosing sustainable seafood, and supporting organizations dedicated to ocean conservation.

(Source: Invisible Depths, AWorld app)

This week’s decluttering challenge – The linen closet

In 2024, I’ve been revisiting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge I completed in 2021. This week’s challenge was clearing out the linen closet, and I’m happy to report I decluttered 11 items. You can find the details, along with my tips and learnings, in this week’s decluttering post.

If you’d like to join the challenge, visit this post to download your free checklists and jump right in with this week’s task.

I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.