Retirement: a time to do things differently?

At £3.20 for less and less quantity-wise, it’s just as well The Guardian remains high, quality-wise. For example a nice article on Saturday entitled ‘Switch it up’ with the sub-title, ‘Nothing is the way it used to be. So what better time to reset and do things differently… 21 thinkers and dreamers share their radical ideas to reshape the world.’ As in above image.

I’ve always been fond of ideas. When I was working, and even now into retirement, I’ve somewhat prided myself on having ideas, being creative if you will. I can hear previous colleagues responding yes, that was all you f—king well did, have the ideas and then leave some other poor sod to finish them off. If the cap fits? Bit harsh on myself I think.

It’s true I was something of a starter and not much of a finisher. But these days I have to work hard just to find people who will take on my ideas. With the exception of my chum who’s working on my podcast, it’s usually for financial consideration. I pay my tech guy, my two chaps who do stuff up at the vineyard and the Derbyshire cottage.

I say, I’ve got an idea, go and do this for me and tell me how much I owe you. Simple. The forth-coming podcast hasn’t been simple but that’s a story to be told at a later date. On the whole though the arrangement works well. Otherwise it’s a matter in my retirement of still having ideas but sticking to the ones I can start and finish myself. Like the DIY lockdown projects for example.

But then the article of course set me thinking, what would my radical idea be to reshape the world? The examples in the article were fine but none of them my kind of thing. For example, Give offenders a clean slate; redesign the welfare state; embrace bad weather (that sounds strange now); have football clubs run by fans; have spaces for the fragile and anxious to connect; fill publishing with people who’ve worked in bookshops. Just a flavour of what was there.

My favourite was the one by Grayson Perry (of whom I have always been a big fan). This was, help everyone to make art*. ‘As we come blinking into the light, now is the time to leave a space in our lives to make art, whether we join a choir, a writing group, a quilting bee, a dance class, set up a studio in the shed or make funny videos on our phones.’ Not just painting art then. Anything creative.

And, as this is a retirement blog, let me make the double connection between ‘into the light’ of post-Covid (hopefully) and compare that to entering or contemplating retirement. Here’s a door opening (as opposed to one closing) so what better time to contemplate the above – what better time to reset and do things differently? That’s a question for you who are at that stage of retirement.

In my own case, having been retired for 7 years, rather than ask, what could I do differently when I retire, the question should be, on reflection, what have I done differently? Hmm, that’s a put up or shut up question, is it not.

I’m afraid the answer is nothing very glorious. As I wrote recently I haven’t sold up and circled the globe, donated all our money to a worthy cause, written the ultimate book about how to achieve world peace, discovered a cure for cancer. Nope, nothing anywhere near so grand.

More of a bits and bobs set of achievements (which is a long way in itself from having ideas to re-shape the world). For one thing, as a qualifier of the question, it doesn’t allow positive feelings about the aspects of my life I didn’t change mainly because I liked them and wanted to keep them. Family, pets, a house or two, some of my existing skills and interests.

You know I may be realising this for the first time. It’s possible I haven’t started anything new at all since I retired. Rather I’ve either continued or at best expanded on areas of my life that were already in existence. Hmm that’s a long way from being radical isn’t it?

Shocked by this thought, I asked Mrs Summerhouse for her opinion. She suggested my blog was something I’d started in retirement. We also agreed that although the vineyard was started the year before I retired, it counted because I’d started it with the intention of it being a retirement activity. Fair enough. The podcast, if it ever happens (actually that’s unfair because episode one is already out there) and, at a stretch, the book of the same topic might just squeeze under the bar of new retirement activities. There was also the diet but that’s not going so well right now, so I’ll leave that.

I say I didn’t set off round the world in a campervan or similar but Mrs SH reminds me that we did contemplate buying a campervan although maybe not the round world bit. We got as far as trying out a caravan (not quite the same thing, true), for three weeks in Scotland a few years ago. I wouldn’t quite call it a disaster but close. Maybe it’s better to stay closer to home and have one’s radical ideas.

So perhaps not quite as bad as I thought, but there’s no doubt that I haven’t exactly set the retirement world alight with any radical activities. But maybe that’s OK. I think the trick to retirement is that old chestnut, be content (happy, at ease) with what you are doing. Sounds simple but isn’t of course. I can’t honestly say I am, but I do try hard to be. But then is retirement a time to be radical or, and I agree there’s a balance to be struck here, a time to reduce and retract? Buggered if I know. If you have a view then please feel free to let me know.

*If I like making art so much how come the bleedin’ easel is still in its box in the garage, you ask?