retired life has its disciplines

C. S. Lewis writing letters

I was reading how about C. S. Lewis retired from Cambridge in 1963. He had about six months of retirement before he passed away. He was a great letter writer and yet he had difficulty with the rheumatoid arthritis. Apparently he had ambitions to continue writing before he died the same day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. In my motivation poster I have a picture of Lewis writing. Apparently he wrote his work out longhand and I'm not sure if he used the typewriter, but I don't think he did. What would he had thought about today’s computer dictation? 

You may have very excellent keyboard skills. No, the keyboard was only possible to me when I started working with the word processing. The little typing that I didn't wasn't worth all mistakes and white out. My typed papers looked like a canvas in modern art. But with a word processor you could type away and correct later. I am sure some of my coworkers chuckled at my efforts as I worked with six fingers. Through the years I finally figured out how to use all 10 but I never did master keyboard skills. Now that there's voice recognition forget about it.

What Lewis reminds me of is a disciplined life and one who works at his craft. I can imagine standing up to the writing group which Lewis belonged to. The British biting wit would have had to been brutal. They obviously enjoyed it. I have been reading Lewis work on medieval literature and my lit teacher from JuCo, Peter Neff would had to laugh. He was my tennis coach, he called me out in class for being full of BS trying to discuss the assignment without actually reading it. He was a good sport, and he did me a great service that day. 

It was actually during those years that I began to read. When I found a good writer I tried to read several of his or her’s books. When I studied psychology and theology I tried to read the works of the people that I was reading about in class. 

For seven years working my way through school I took care of people being treated for mental illness. Most of the people being treated in the hospital would have very little contact with her therapist or doctors. About the only people really listening to them were people like me. My co-workers more enthusiastic in sharing what they have learned and read. We bantered ideas and therapies. It was back then that I knew mental disorders we're biologically rooted, and for most people talk therapy had to be educational and fit the needs of the person. Therapy works, but the real progress would have to be made medically. 

These days, I am trying to make transition to be better at writing. It is a lot like my blog, being the fat man walking I am attempting to do things to help my health. It somewhat an uphill climb, being on uneven terrain. Health as we get older isn’t exactly easy, and in the same way writing isn't exactly easy for me either. But if I keep putting one foot in front of the other maybe I can improve. The bottom line is by making some better choices and do what's good one day at a time, a few years may be with it.

One tip Lewis gave about reading, when you read a writer from a different time period keep them in their time period and enjoyed them for what they are writing about. Enter their TimeZone and enjoy your visit. Keep walking!