I am aware I spend a lot of my time in these retirement blogs vaguely complaining about how busy my retirement life is. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could slow down and relax? And yet, at a point just half way through my second quiet day, I’m, whisper it, close to being bored. When it comes to the feast or famine concept of retirement life, I seem to be firmly in favour of feast.
So because I can’t sit and do nothing I’m writing this blog even though I have two retirement blogs waiting to be posted. I have to admit I’m slightly motivated to write by the fact that my readership seems to be increasing. There is a problem in the sense that I have absolutely no idea why this should be. Which in turn means I have no idea how to capitalise on this increase.
While my chum was tinkering about with his Facebook theories and I was paying small amounts of money to Facebook to boost my posts and large amounts to my IT guy to redesign the look of my blog to bring it into this century (one reader said he didn’t like the new style saying he preferred the old ‘analogue’ style to the current ‘digital’ look, nice way of putting it), the numbers did rise. But just as quickly declined again when I stopped shelling out.
This has not stopped Facebook from offering to boost my blog every day for three and tuppence a pop. And yes it’s true that I have now paid out my annual advertising budget to The Oldie to publicise my blog. But the increased figures were rising before this advert appears (next month in the Book supplement I think).
In fact while we’re on the question of whether to pay out to advertise this blog I have a small confession to make. I have doubled my advertising budget my putting not one advert in The Oldie, magazine, but two. The one in the current (September) edition being for The Vineyard Years. It’s just about the 60 or so vineyard blogs. A little something for the connoisseur.
In past years The Summerhouse Years advert has had a small effect on my readership figures. Nothing of viral proportions you understand, but enough to encourage me to continue with my writing and the extravagance of advertising the same.
But, to return to my current figures, I have no idea why the rise in my readership. Which brings me back to that thorny issue I mentioned in a recent blog that of ‘being in control’. Given I have no idea why things are looking up, that means I cannot repeat it at least not with any clarity. Therefore a potential opportunity in my retirement for being in control, is not available to me. Hey ho.
On with this blog over which I also seem to have very little control. Mrs Summerhouse asked me what it was about and when I said I did not know, she said oh, it’s a doodle blog.
I am also motivated to write this blog to make reference to an article (the image above is I think an ironic one from the article, God knows what they’re doing) I read a few days ago about retirement on the BBC news website. The article was enticingly titled – Why we lie about being retired. Good heading and tantalising enough to get me to read it. I thought that one day it would form the basis of an interesting blog.
So today, to fill the boredom gap I’m writing about it. Admittedly a much-shortened version. The article made a number of points about the challenges that retirement throws up, if I may use that term. Most of which, though I say so myself with all due modesty, I have been making in the pages of this blog for the last six years.
For example, it says, ‘while retirement might start off in a blaze of well-deserved relaxation the novelty can soon wear off’. I agree, except in my case, I don’t think there was ever ‘a blaze of well-deserved relaxation’ period. I was anxious from the word go. But the point is well-made.
The article goes on to say – ‘We need to think about who we will be – who we want to be when our formal career ends’. How true. ‘Some will deny being retired … they will say what their profession is even though they’re not working in that profession any more’. I don’t think I’ve ever done that and that would be quite sad but when these people in the article were asked why they did this, they replied, ‘it’s because they don’t want to be seen as someone who it out to pasture… I don’t want to be seen as yesterday’s news I want to be the news right now.’
And later on an expert pronounced – ‘work is fundamental to the good life’. I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that. My feeling about my work was that I had enjoyed it but, at 65, there was enough time left to find another version of the good life. Particularly if I didn’t need to make any money to support this ‘good’ life. I mean how difficult could that be.
Despite a slight leaning towards negativity in these retirement blogs, I think I can honestly say I’ve been more successful than not in this ambition. Writing this blog being one part of the puzzle of what makes a good retirement life. Anyway read it for yourself if you wish and see what you make of it. Here’s the link.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48882195
The only problem with my free flow of consciousness style of writing a la Jack Kerouac is that when it’s finished and I need to give it a title (unless I have already done so) it can be difficult to come up with an appropriate one. I’ve chosen the one from the article even though this probably makes up a relatively small part of this retirement blog. Maybe I thought, like the article itself, this was the kind of title that would entice people to check it out. Back to those readership figures again.