Organised Dedication

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(Image by falco from Pixabay)

Anyone who has followed me on my journey through retirement will know that early on I had an aspiration to become a Bohemian, develop scatty tendencies and experience life through the lens of glowing, disorganised chaos.  This morning I imagine that I almost achieved nirvana when I succeeded in putting, not one but two, items of clothing on back to front whilst dressing. Frankly, it was not an experience I could enjoy and I quickly amended my error. 

The truth is I like organisation too much and know now that I shall never be able to drop it. That doesn't mean I am a tidy person, well our home certainly isn't, but I do like things to be sorted and ordered, even if that does involve utilising floor space or piling things on work surfaces to achieve it. I was actually looking forward to watching a much heralded programme to be shown on BBC One this evening: "Sort Your Life Out," until it was suddenly pulled from the TV schedule to be aired on Easter Monday instead.

To be fair, I haven't waited until well into my seventh year of retirement to solve the mysteries of lifestyle administration. However, I take the view that, with an almost nerd-like fascination for well-managed structure, I can never afford to lose an opportunity to learn something new in that sphere. I'm not looking for a perfect home or life, just a simple one and if there's a way to cut down on the complexities of daily living that so easily entangle, then I'm always ready to embrace them. Let's just say that I love systems but hate unnecessary effort.

Fortunately my quest for satisfaction through analysis has been met in part this week by the power of the census. It's not like trekking to Bethlehem to be counted but I do get some gratification from completing this decennary questionnaire. Having become accustomed in looking at those from 1841 to 1911 in my ancestry trail, I couldn't help wondering what those who pore over this year's returns in a hundred years time might make of the answers given. I suspect they are going to come across any number of Jedi, Europeans and green-skinned people if the discussions taking place on Twitter can be taken as indicative.

Hopefully and unlike the censuses made public todate there are no references to Heads of Households or wives whose occupations are described as general domestic duties!

In the meantime I've been struggling to understand how one family in my ancestry manages to appear in the 1901 census twice at two different addresses as I visualise them running down the street a barrow of possessions ahead of them, timing a house-move to coincide with the enumerator's visits and greeting him for a second time in one day. Could my scale of census gratification actually be genetic?

Then there is the great, great grandfather who back in 1871 appears to have suffered a name change. Now dwelling on that has taken up far too much of my time this week. After all, speech impediments or not, how can the census enumerator have mistaken Nathan for Matthew? Naturally, it must definitely be him, as everybody else, together with occupations, ages and places of birth, fit. Then it clicked: the enumerator thought his name was Matt when in fact, like subsequent descendants, he must have been known as Nat! 

However, the most infuriating experience is not to be able to find a family in a census record at all. Frustration really isn't a strong enough word to describe the utter futility of hours spent trawling for no gain. As I've already said, worthless endeavour is not my forte but dogged determination can make it seem so. At what point do I cut my losses, surrender and accept that in that particular year they were the ones that got away? Is that what sorting my life out means and is there a formula to calculate the time limit to be imposed on seeking to solve the insolveable?

 

Comments

Marksgran said…
Hi, I've just found your blog. I've been having a wee read of your last few posts. Belated Happy Birthday to you! You seem to have more freedom to move around than us in Scotland. We've to stay at home for now. I think it's loosening in the next week or two though. Fingers crossed! Do you know I don't ever remember doing a census! The current one is only for England, Wales and N. Ireland I think. In fact when I read about fines for non completion of it, I panicked a bit but hubby told me we're not included anyway! I made no plans for retirement as I was made redundant/early retirement 10 years ago quite unexpectedly. To begin with I struggled with the lack of structure to my days but I got over that quite quickly and now hate if my days get too 'planned'! x
26 March 2021 at 12:29
Caree Risover said…
Hello there. Yes, I expected retirement days to be structured ( too much work ethic) but quickly discovered that the key to real life was flexibility too. However, I’ve found the past year of lockdown has forced me back to a more structured day. At present the law still requires us to stay at home although you can meet 1 other person in a public place for exercise or recreation but you must stay local and North Yorkshire police are pretty vigilant, stopping cars etc.. so all our exercise has been from our front door since the beginning of January. Fortunately we have been bubbling with my elderly Mum who needs support, so we’ve been allowed to go into her home and it’s been a treat for me to actually have somewhere to go and someone outside my home to talk to indoors in the cold weather! Next week, the relaxation begins when we can meet another household or with 5 other people outdoors - the excitement is building. As for your census, you’re in for a treat because it’s coming next year! Whilst England and Wales’ went essentially online this time, I understand the Scottish Government sensibly opted to postpone for a year. Perhaps I should move north to fill in another one.
26 March 2021 at 12:58
Treaders said…
I'm organized too but I honestly don't see a down side to it at all. Heck it's better to be organized when you have tons of paperwork to do (like with my requesting French citizenship) and not forgetting to pay bills on time and incurring late charges and so on. I wish I were more creative but I guess we can't have it all can we!
26 March 2021 at 16:18
Caree Risover said…
Fully with where you are coming from Treaders, I think I’m at my most creative when I’m devising systems.
26 March 2021 at 17:16
cheshire wife said…
I decided when I retired that an organised life would be too much like work. So now I just do pretty much what I like, when I want, but the days are always too short. I don't think that being organised would make the days any longer.
26 March 2021 at 20:35
Caree Risover said…
True in my case too. Whilst I may have a To Do List, I never actually see the end of it! Of course in retirement I do have a tendency to get way laid along the way, preoccupied by something that takes my fancy but as I definitely don’t work to deadlines anymore, does it matter?
27 March 2021 at 07:44
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