retirement
This issue, the definition of retirement and what is it you do when you retire has been a problem for me ever since my retirement. Largely, because I found sliding into retirement mode after a stressful, yet enjoyable "working" life, to be no problem. But I have difficulties explaining to puzzled people what it is that I now do. Their expressions suggest concern and worry that I may no longer have a purpose in life.
When I start to say that I read, go to the cinema, travel, explore, write, paint, attend classes, go to the gym, improve the home, etc., it sounds somewhat feeble compared to saying, when I worked, "I am the headteacher of a school for seriously disturbed children." Yet what I do now is no less important to me, and is, in fact, actually more important because I am now catching up on all the things I had no time for during the last 25 years. So my response to people who ask what I do in retirement, is simply, "I am catching up on all the things I had no time for during the last 25 years." And that's a big enough task for anybody. And I'm enjoying it. Especially the painting, and, surprisingly, home decorating and upholstery.
What I'm saying is that my life has not become meaningless since retirement, but, on the contrary has become very meaningful. By contrast, the last five to seven years at work were becoming increasingly pointless (although heavily demanding and stressful) and therefore, with hindsight, quite meaningless.
When I start to say that I read, go to the cinema, travel, explore, write, paint, attend classes, go to the gym, improve the home, etc., it sounds somewhat feeble compared to saying, when I worked, "I am the headteacher of a school for seriously disturbed children." Yet what I do now is no less important to me, and is, in fact, actually more important because I am now catching up on all the things I had no time for during the last 25 years. So my response to people who ask what I do in retirement, is simply, "I am catching up on all the things I had no time for during the last 25 years." And that's a big enough task for anybody. And I'm enjoying it. Especially the painting, and, surprisingly, home decorating and upholstery.
What I'm saying is that my life has not become meaningless since retirement, but, on the contrary has become very meaningful. By contrast, the last five to seven years at work were becoming increasingly pointless (although heavily demanding and stressful) and therefore, with hindsight, quite meaningless.
posted by reinhardt danzig at 9:23 pm
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