Annual Review

365 days since retirement

Hello my friend!

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was a good one. It was tax-free weekend here in Tennessee since school starts here in just a few days.

For artists, it’s when we can get all of our supplies tax-free so I stocked up on some underglazes. With what we save on sales tax, we might have the studio paid for by 2066.

It’s been a year since I flew home for the last time as a Road Warrior. I did my Mid-Year Review in February and it’s time to sit down in front of the boss again.

So here’s how it went.

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It’s Saturday, August 1, 2026. An important day.

First, my cats get their flea and tick medication.

Second, it’s my one-year anniversary of retiring. Three hundred sixty-five days ago, I sat in Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, flying home from my last gig.

Much has happened this year. Quite a bit of it I talked about in February at the six-month mark of retirement.

The first six months were a real adjustment. It didn’t take long to experience an emotional emptiness that plagued me daily. 2026 started with promise, but I still struggled. I wrote my review in February on a trip to Alaska. As you can see HERE, I didn’t rate myself highly.

I did, however, come up with an action plan for the second half. It involved assessing which activities I wanted to pursue from the things I enjoyed. It didn’t take long to get the calendar involved. I had a BBQ competition in early May, then one last speaking gig two weeks after that. Finally, I was able to get hired to teach a surface decorating class at Mud Puddle Pottery, the place where I take sculpting lessons. My plan was to see which of those I enjoyed and then drop the ones I didn’t. Then I could focus the rest of my time on what I loved best and put in the time to get better at all of it.

It was a great plan.

Until the wheels fell off.

Now, much of what I’m about to tell you is private stuff. But since you’re part of the INNER CIRCLE, I’ll let you in. And remember, I’m not writing this because I think you’re obsessed with my life. I’m doing it so that when you get to the stage of life I’m in, you’ll at least have a roadmap.

Things started to tailspin in March. First, I lost Tiger, my cat who adopted us eight years ago. You can read that story HERE. And as an aside, Tiger’s absence is felt. We are overrun with mice and squirrels this year. He managed to keep this property very clean.

Then, a week later, I THOUGHT I lost my favorite cat, my girl Athena. You can read that story HERE. Thankfully, everything turned out fine, but emotionally it hurt nearly as badly as when I lost Tiger.

Then, on Sunday, March 29, my oldest daughter, Krystal, called to tell me her brother, my older son, had passed away. We did not have a close relationship. In fact, few people knew about him. It was painful, and I’m not sure I’ve completely processed it yet, even six months later.

Finally, in early April, I had to drop everything and move to Las Vegas to handle some stuff with my younger son. Some of you know what happened, but it’s not my story to tell. Just know that it was a very trying time, and one that stretched me to my emotional limits.

Not to mention the three events that were supposed to get me moving in the right direction were canceled.

And I still had my mom to worry about. Barb was able to refill her pills and I shopped for her using DoorDash but I was worried she’d have an emergency and I was two time zones away.

So I took those five weeks to ramp up my walking and working out. I spent the days rewriting all of my old business books and wrote an entirely new one. It was hell, but it served as a nice way to put my business life to rest and prepare for the next chapter when I returned.

Which happened the first week of May.

It took some time to get back into a routine. Athena was pissed at me for a few days but soon resumed her place tucked under my arm in bed each night.

I finally took my friend Steve Kohn’s advice and read Arthur Brooks’ book From Strength to Strength. Then I read it a second time. And a third time. I wish I’d read this a few years before retirement. It put the transition I was going through in perspective. It is the reason I was able to finish this year stronger. I can’t recommend it to you enough.

Then I got an opportunity to do that same HR talk in Lynchburg, Virginia, in October and signed up for a BBQ competition the following weekend. And, on August 15, I’ll be teaching my surface decorating workshop here in Pegram, TN. Check it out HERE!

So maybe the timing was better. My head is clearer, and maybe I’ll have a much better perspective when making my decisions about Year Two of retirement.

Moving Forward

I guess my review is over, and I need to get my development plan in place for the new year.

There are challenges.

My Mom

She’s at the point where I have some hard decisions to make. Actually, it’s a very easy one for me because I’ve been making hard ones the entire time for her. She can’t live by herself anymore. She won’t leave her apartment. I had her involved with a group for people with cognitive issues, but she hated it. We even had her work as a volunteer, but she threw a big fit when I came to pick her up. She balled up her wrinkly old fists, stomped her feet on the floor, and refused to go. She’s lost over fifty pounds in the past two years and refuses to eat or drink water and is often skipping her meds.

So I’m looking at a place on Tuesday. That’s going to be a fun day when I have to move her.

Once I get her settled and safe, I think I’ll be able to focus more on what I want and need to do. And she will hopefully benefit from having a tribe.

Teaching

My Temperament workshop last week was a big success. Everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy it, and I loved facilitating again.

But it was different this time. I taught from a place of crystallized intelligence, a term I learned in From Strength to Strength. I know all the MBTI theory, but I’ve also used the instrument for twenty years with over 4,000 participants. I used to worry that my age would ruin my credibility. In this case, my age was the credibility.

I’m not sure how much of this work will come my way, but that’s my approach.

As for teaching art? I can’t wait to try. If you’re a potter and live local, join me!

Relationships

I have the gift of three free evenings every week when Barb teaches her exercise classes. Three Happy Hours per week. Right now, I have a standing meeting with my friend Gary Rohmann, and Kurt and I do a happy hour every few weeks. I used to sit and watch the news, but since my brain can’t process any more of the outrageous shit that comes out of Washington, DC every single fucking day, I just read the headlines and turn it off.

I’d rather share a drink and stories with friends.

I hope you’ll join me one evening.

Or maybe we could do an INNER CIRCLE Zoom happy hour. It’s one of the few things I miss from the COVID days. Reply back and let’s put something on the calendar.

Writing

You already know about this one, but this is the year my writing will be fully explored. Tales from the Whitmore drops soon, and you’ll also get a few stories from my friend Silas Kane. Plus, of course, the weekly INNER CIRCLE and the book releases on Wednesday.

Art

I keep getting prodded to try wheel throwing.

I don’t want to.

In sculpting, you take a big bunch of clay and reveal whatever is inside it. It’s never the same. Most of the time, you have no idea where it’s going until it just clicks.

But wheel throwing is precise. You have to use a scale to weigh your clay. Then you have rulers and calipers.

Rulers, calipers, and scales belong in math class.

Math class is another word for the inner circle of hell.

Not to mention it upsets the balance in the studio.

I can’t throw.

Few can throw better than Barb. Her craftsmanship is top-notch. You’ll never get a scratch on your coffee table from one of her mugs. But she struggles coming up with ideas for decorating. Her imagination stalls much the way my brain does when I have to make change at an art show. I paint with a brush that has three hairs on it. Tiny little spaces with details that are hard to match.

We can’t do what the other one does.

Therefore, we can’t criticize the other.

That is the ONLY way the pottery universe doesn’t slip into a black hole.

The good news is we just got a space at a local bar in Dickson that loves some of the raunchy stuff we paint, sculpt, and design. And we’re selling more online and at a gallery.

So art is moving full forward.

Family

This year proved that family life, and sometimes family members, are unpredictable.

My trip to see Krystal and my grandkids was the perfect way to wrap up this year.

Holding my youngest grandson after our sculpting lesson. Love all those handprints on my back. I felt the love.

And it made me think.

I have so many happy memories of my grandparents. I remember the things they taught me. Things I still remember today. They are every bit alive in my mind as they were years ago.

My parents are different. That relationship offers few good memories for me now.

Particularly as they aged.

Grandparents, though.

What a gift.

Then I realized I have six grandkids. Six kids who will someday grow up and face all the challenges life offers.

And I thought about all the crystallized intelligence I have stored in my head.

I realized those grandkids are my priority.

I wanted to leave a legacy in the business world.

I’m not sure there is one.

But this is the legacy that matters.

The book my granddaughter just wrote and we published.

The day, years from now after I’m long gone, when one of my grandkids tells their kids a story.

“When I was little, I remember my Grandpa Mack telling me what to do in a situation just like this. So let me share it with you.”

I won’t get any better than that.

Thanks for listening.

See you at midyear in February!