One year ago today we were visiting Grand Haven, Michigan. Busy planning our audacious escape. I have never met a financial planner who doesn’t keep saying “work, work, work”. No matter what your plan, you just don’t have enough money. The (in)famous Suze Orman preaches to never think about retirement until you are 70. And that everyone needs $5 million… or now $10 million to walk away. She says about the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early), “I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.”
Well, thankfully we didn’t listen.
One year in… life is fantastic.
Our long-term plan looks just as solid.
During the 200 day countdown, as we forged our dream into reality, I used to go to bed at night, envisioning our life to come. Transporting myself from Iowa to Michigan mentally. Visualizing our future, in our same bed, but in Michigan… after a pleasant, fulfilling day. Just as Kurt Vonnegut escaped the prison of time, so was I. Adding to this overwhelming feeling of time travel… my visions came true. Completely. Occasionally I will go to bed remembering Iowa, transporting myself briefly back. I had difficulty understanding Slaughterhouse 5 when I originally dove into it as a teen. But now, I feel able to peer into Vonnegut’s mind… albeit in a much more pleasant personal instance.
For the dreamers who are also doers, time folds into itself, bending, then blossoming anew.
“Don’t dream it (We’ve got to get out of this trap), be it
(Before this decadence) Don’t dream it (Saps our wills), be it
(I’ve got to be strong) Don’t dream it (And try to hang on), be it
(Or else my mind) Don’t dream it (May well snap), be it
(Und my life will be lived) Don’t dream it (For the thrills…), be it
Don’t dream it, be it”