About These Posts

Each day I add a new journal entry to my social media feeds. Here, I take that day’s entry and expand it through the lens of my Good Life Creed, which you can read about in my book Going Alone (available for free on this website). These dissections aim to connect ordinary reflections with the enduring objectives and principles of the Creed.

Journal Entry (10/11/25)

Yesterday felt a little like a working day—in the best sense. The kind of day when structure and purpose come together to make life feel quietly productive. I began before dawn with my 5:30 AM Good Life Meditation, joined by about ten others—many of them familiar faces. After breakfast and a dog walk, I hosted my usual weekday office hour at 10:00 AM, before heading out on my rounds—walking the streets of Shizuoka with my dog, exploring, observing, and thinking until mid-afternoon. I came home feeling, in a way, like a salaryman returning from a good day’s work.

Over dinner, Yumiko asked, “How was your day?”—just like she used to when we were both still working. I told her about my day’s “work,” pleased by how deliberate and full it had been. She smiled and asked if I’d like her to start preparing a bento box for my outings. “Would I? You bet,” I said, already picturing lunch in the park or by the river, partway through my YouTube workday.

I may be retired, but I still find value in a little structure—the rhythm and focus that once defined my professional life now shaping this new one in gentler ways. They say old habits die hard, but maybe some deserve to live on when they continue to serve us well.

Dissection

This reflection describes the subtle balance between work and rest that defines a well-lived retirement. The author has not abandoned structure but has reshaped it into something calm, personal, and sustainable—a rhythm guided by purpose rather than necessity.

#Purpose (The Principle of Purpose) — The day unfolds with clear intention. Meditation, walking, creating, and reflection all serve a deliberate sense of meaning, even without the demands of employment.

#Time (The Good and Effective Use of Time) — The rhythm of the day reflects mastery over one’s hours. Time is treated not as something to fill but as something to inhabit—each task chosen, not assigned.

#Balance (The Principle of Balance) — Old habits of structure have not been rejected but adapted. The same traits that once supported professional success now sustain a gentler form of daily purpose, proving that some patterns of discipline can age gracefully.

Takeaway

Retirement need not mean the end of structure—it can mean the freedom to shape it anew. Purpose, time, and balance remain companions of a meaningful life, helping us turn the ordinary rhythm of a single day into something quietly complete.