Retirement blog: celebrating the big 600

Those of you who’ve been reading this retirement blog for a while will know that I have the habit of ‘celebrating’ every hundred blogs. I’ve just passed the 600 mark (who’d have thought it?) and hence I’m repeating the ‘celebration’. In preparation I re-read the 500 blog, written almost exactly a year ago. I wondered how much might have changed. Short answer is not much.

All the usual suspects have continued to figure in these last 100 posts – health, hobbies, travel or lack of it, vineyard blogs, the missing link which remains missing. That sort of thing. Like the previous one hundred I’m still bemoaning the lack of readers and still making some tentative efforts to increase my readership. Recently attending a Guardian Masterclass on blogs and brands, not so recently placing an advert in The Oldie magazine. All costs money you know.

Have I finally, after my sixth year retired, put the need for a link between self-worth and working behind me? I thought I had. Slowly and sometimes painfully I’ve found ways of supporting my self-esteem other than through work. That said I had a bit of a shock when my only regular drinking pal started our conversation in the pub last week by telling me he had just applied for a job.

Whaat? I thought all this was behind us and I certainly didn’t want him back-sliding, as I saw it. The truth of the matter was a bit more prosaic. He had applied (because he’d been asked to) for a ‘job’ as clerk to his local parish council. He didn’t get the job. He told me he was relieved but maybe he thought that’s what I wanted to hear. It was a shock though and took me, psychologically, to places I didn’t want to go and didn’t think I would have to.

Back to my readership. Only yesterday I filled in an on-line form for something called Feedspot (anybody know anything about this strategy for increasing readership?). The owner said I ‘had an impressive blog with high quality and useful content on Retirement.’ That’s nice but I couldn’t help getting the impression that he hadn’t actually read my blog and this is what he said to all the girls (to paraphrase an expression from yesteryear). If I subscribe he will ‘feature my blog in our Top 100 retirement blogs from Google’.

And, he goes on to say, and I quote, ‘your blog will be subscribed by thousands of users… get targeted subscribers who are looking to follow top and upcoming Retirement Blogs… be featured in Feedspot’s Retirement category. Due to this over a million existing Feedspot users will be able to subscribe to your blog.’ It’s free for thirty days and then all for £2.25 a month or £1.5 (is this 50??) if I pay annually.

Wow, apart from the grammar, that’s pretty impressive. Too good to be true? You know what they say, if it seems too good to be true it probably is. So again, what do you think dear readers? The chance of a lifetime or, the mistake of same? If I’d received this email sooner I could have asked Charly (Masterclass tutor) what she thought. So you see things don’t change, just the most recent version of the same. Plus ca meme chose and all that. However, I suppose the more important question in all this is, how has retirement changed, in the last year or so, since I passed the 500 mark? I’ll use my favourite expression for summarising my life – it’s like the curate’s egg, good in parts. In the sense that I’ve entered the final decade probably and we have said we’re going to make the most of it. Some things work and some don’t.

Our trip to the USA with the dogs planned after visiting my sick friend, has, like him, taken a turn for the worst. In its place has come a more achievable missing link / travel plan. Simply put we’re planning to take short breaks in dog-friendly hotels. London wasn’t one of these but we’re going to stay in a country hotel near Scarborough later this month. Another in the Yorkshire Dales early next month and then there are the Wales / Ireland hotels in May. This might work. No doubt the next hundred blogs will feature these retirement visits.

In addition there’s an article in The Times and The Guardian (must be true) about the happiest times in our lives being 16 and 70. Missed the first one by some distance but spot on for the second. I even downloaded the article as I forgot to buy the paper. Here’s the link

Why you may have to wait until 70 to be truly happy

The article is based on a report from The Resolution Foundation. I’ll let you read it, if you wish, but, briefly, we 70 year olds are happy because we’re good at living in the moment or being mindful; we value experiences like hanging out with our friends (the few we have left – their words not mine) and not having to focus on the type of routines we had when working. There’s the usual stuff about exercise improving mood, when we’re 70 we have time for exercise apparently. Oh and we’re emotionally mature.

Hmm I’m not entirely convinced. I’m no good at living in the moment or being mindful; I’m not all that keen on ‘hanging out’ with friends despite what I said above; I do like a bit of routine; I do take some exercise with the dogs but I’m definitely not emotionally mature. But then I am a miserable old git, so maybe it does make sense.

So overall some surprise, and no little pleasure, at having written about 600 retirement blogs. Furthermore, I can see no reason why I shouldn’t continue on my merry retirement blog way, at least for one a week. This providing I can continue to enjoy the act of writing for its own sake and not worry too much about who or how many people are reading these blogs. Along with the spectrum of retirement activities I engage in to keep the self-worth wolf from the door, I definitely want to have this retirement blog as a part of my retirement life.