Retirement Is Not For The Lazy

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Through 35 years of trucking, and especially through the last 20 years of it, I stayed so busy working that I never had time to think about what I would do in retirement. I felt lucky just to be able to take a few days off from work, and that did not happen very often. I can remember years that, even after cheating on logs, I still logged less than a dozen days of recreational downtime in a year. It never entered my mind that I would one day be forced off of the road due to health reasons and that I would one day tell myself that I have no desire to climb back into a truck. But, it happened.

Well, actually, it was a little more than 14 or 15 years ago that I started thinking that I may someday want to quit trucking, but I never had the idea to retire. But, health issues got in my way, and I found myself applying for a Social Security Disability pension. And now, well, I have been unemployed for the past 12 years. I relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. This put me in a place where there is always something going on, something that interests me. In my opinion, in Las Vegas the exposure in arts is great, but it is not the best place to make money while getting the exposure.

Retirement, for me, has not been days filled with watching television. I have worked hard to improve my health. I eat better than I have ever eaten in my life. I sleep better than I have ever slept in my life. My only health issues are those that linger from my original problems. I will have those problems for the rest of my life. Instead of accepting retirement I purchased some photography equipment and began working on a lifelong fantasy, a freelance photography business. I have made a few sales with my photography, but for now I am concentrating on building and organizing my new catalog. I say “new catalog” because of a computer glitch that cost me 140,000+ images just over 4 years ago. Bad stuff happens, but I refuse to give up. And, I really believe I am making good headway. I just need to finish some projects and get organized enough to advertise my business, Better World Media.

I have also re-started a long-forgotten interest in music. I have now written around 100 songs, and sing and play the guitar. I hope to travel with the money I make with my photography and music. My income from Social Security and a disability pension is enough to meet my needs. Any income I can make from music and photography will be spent to meet my travel expenses, replace equipment as needed, and help others that are less fortunate than myself

I hope to soon begin advertising and marketing my work, but for now, it is important that I rebuild the catalog I lost over 4 years ago.

I have narrowed my list of photographic subjects down to 2 specialties plus stock photography work. I shoot “Event, Travel, and Stock Photography”.

This blog, Better World Media is my photography blog. Currently, I am filling this blog with articles from authors and photographers, tips, and other items on anything to do with the photo industry. I also have an online retail studio, Better World Media, to showcase and sell my photography. In the future, it will become more focused on “Event and Travel” photography.

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