A while back, I wrote a blog article about the fact that I was struggling with retirement. A short time later, I was contacted by a lovely man named Joe Casey, who runs a podcast called The New Retirement. Joe’s program doesn’t delve into the financial aspects of retiring, which of course are important, but are not the only things you should consider. Instead, Joe focuses on our emotional responses to this life change.
I retired from full-time teaching and sports officiating a few years ago, and I wish I’d talked to Joe sooner, because then I would have understood the transition a bit better. As he points out so succinctly, there is no rulebook for retirement.
“Now picture yourself on your first day of retirement, the next phase of your life,” Joe says on his webpage. “Your hopes and dreams. And your concerns. But there’s no Orientation this time. You’re on your own. Retirement today doesn’t come with a template or a roadmap. Each one is different – and that means it’s wise to invest some time in designing your life in retirement.”
The important word is your retirement, because there is no one-size fits-all approach. We have spent our working lives running from obligation to obligation, doing our best to fit in all our daily responsibilities. Then we retire, which kind of reminds me of the roadrunner in the Wily E. Coyote cartoon sliding to a full stop in a swirl of desert dust. Like the goofy bird, many of us stand there with no idea what happens next.
Joe explained that many people fear boredom most of all. It’s really important, then, that we retirees identify and practice things we enjoy doing and that we have events we can look forward to. We need to be curious and ask ourselves what gives us joy. Retirement is also the perfect time to volunteer. We have all those valuable skills we developed in our work lives which can now be used to make the world a better place.
The most important thing to remember is that work is something we do. It’s not who we are.
I was delighted when Joe invited me to join him on his podcast. Perhaps you’d like to take a listen.
Enjoy!
The past and present collide when a tenacious reporter seeks information on an eleventh century magician…and uncovers more than she bargained for.
WOLF CATCHER
Anne Montgomery
Historical Fiction/Suspense
TouchPoint Press
February 2, 2022
In 1939, archeologists uncovered a tomb at the Northern Arizona site called Ridge Ruin. The man, bedecked in fine turquoise jewelry and intricate bead work, was surrounded by wooden swords with handles carved into animal hooves and human hands. The Hopi workers stepped back from the grave, knowing what the Moochiwimi sticks meant. This man, buried nine hundred years earlier, was a magician.
Former television journalist Kate Butler hangs on to her investigative reporting career by writing freelance magazine articles. Her research on The Magician shows he bore some European facial characteristics and physical qualities that made him different from the people who buried him. Her quest to discover The Magician’s origin carries her back to a time when the high desert world was shattered by the birth of a volcano and into the present-day dangers of archeological looting where black market sales of antiquities can lead to murder.
REVIEW COPIES OF WOLF CATCHER AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
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Author Anne Montgomery 