I like “retrenchment” much better than the alternatives, none of which really describe my current life status: early retirement; between jobs; quit job; unemployed, and so on.
Here’s how Webster’s defines it:
REDUCTION, CURTAILMENT specifically : a cutting of expenses
And in fact, I’ve reduced my expenses — no more $318/month train passes and no more eating lunch out every day. But, since leaving my job, I seem to have cut off my income, too. So far, it’s worth it.
I thought “retrenchment” meant a retreat, sort of pulling oneself together before having another go at things. Heading back into the trench, where there is safety. Since 60-year-olds (that would be me) have one foot in the trench anyway — I look at the obits every day — I’m really not interested in being in there at all. I quit my job only three months ago.
I left my job because I was stuck in a serious rut. Instead of complaining about it, I left. Now I’m retrenching. Going from a rut to a trench doesn’t sound like an improvement, but a trench is there for protection. It is nicely formed and uniform in its dimensions. It has a purpose and created intentionally, not like a rut. Not like a pot hole.
I can afford to be without a paycheck, at least for a little while. Maybe more than a little while, once Rope Walker is published and I start my career as an author?
RETRENCHMENT
A tire stuck in a rut
Spins it into a trench.
A tired wretch spins retirement
Intentionally into retrenchment.