How difficult can it be to come up with one new idea for 2021? I pride myself on being a creative person. But sometimes I do wonder. Those of you with good memories will remember in my retirement blog, last Tuesday, I mentioned right at the end that I had begun to wonder if, along with all the bits and bobs I liked about my retirement life, whether I needed something new in my life for the New Year.
Yes, seems like the obvious answer and yet, try as I might, and I have, I’m finding it extremely difficult to come up with an activity (for that is what I’m talking about) that fits the bill. Those of you with real memories, not just one that goes back to last Tuesday, might remember that I have written about the concept of ‘the missing link’ several times in this retirement blog. This is the concept loosely based on the idea that there must be more to retirement life than what I’ve got in place.
After seven years of retirement it appears that I am no closer to identifying this absent part, the one that will bring me complete happiness. That’s me being ironic in case you didn’t notice. There is, of course, no such thing as total happiness. At best it’s fleeting and at worst, well you work it out.
Anyway with the quote from TS Eliot in the last blog it set me off wondering all over again whether I wasn’t missing something. So I sat down with my new diary (as figured in the previous blog) to try and brainstorm this new idea or at least a different twist on 2021*.
Many years ago in a professional capacity we had to generate ideas for services that we could offer to schools. We were almost working on a commercial basis. Didn’t last long but for a while the real world knocked gently at our door. I came across the model below and used it as a basis for determining what kind of work we would engage in.
It looked like this:
1) Same services / same customers (i.e. carrying on with the same thing)
2) Same services / new customers (makes sense in that you’re doing what you’re already good at (presumably) but you have to go out and find new people to deliver it to.
3) New services / same customers (again sensible because you have a group of people who like what you do (presumably) and would want more, lthough something different, of what you have to offer.
4) New services / new customers (the most challenging and likely to fail, version but also the most creative area).
If I translate that into my retirement activities I think you’ll see the connection. 1) Carry on doing exactly what I’m doing. 2) Expand the blog and the podcasts to a different audience, 3) Play new instruments, learn the notes on guitar neck, start cooking again (Mrs Summerhouse’s idea), restore the vineyard with new vines. 4) ?
All I came up with, after much thought, in this last category was – charity work (we donate a fair amount but avoid any actual work), painting in the garage with the easel that remains in its box, new reading / learning topic and travel to OZ and Pakistan. The first to visit number one son and the second, weirdly to watch England play cricket.
Of these (so far) four possibilities only number 3 seems a likely starter. Incidentally Mrs Summerhouse has her project for 2021. She’s transferring (at the suggestion of one of her friends) her doodles on to plates (as above). She’s quite excited about the whole thing even driving to Hobbycraft in Leeds to buy new special drawing on ceramics, pens. And 4 plain, white plates from TK Max. She’s spent the morning designing and drawing these plates (2 so far). She’s also starting to read a book of short stories (Irish) which is not something she has typically read.
Which is all very well but not to be self-centred about things, but, what about me? As I said at the beginning of this retirement blog, how difficult can it be to come up with a new idea? Well, one thought was, it’s especially hard when you’re not all that dissatisfied with what you already have in place.
This level of contentment (get me) does not lead to increased motivation retirement-wise. And yes, I am amazed to read that I’m describing myself as contented. Surely I am a perennially grumpy old man, never satisfied with anything and yet I am describing myself as ‘contented’. Is the world coming to an end or is this simply the New Year we’ve all been reading about?
And there I stopped, and put down my laptop intending to return to this retirement blog at some later point. I picked up a book from the table in front of me. Just because it was there. Serendipity you might call it. The book is entitled The Hinterland : Cabins, Love Shacks and other hide outs. I started to skim through it. Staring at the back as I often do with non-fiction books. At the back were 3 small cabins, modern and old, Poland, Switzerland and Holland, as it happens.
A sudden eureka moment. It’s not an entirely new idea because I’ve dabbled with it in theoretical fashion last year. But now maybe this is the year when I build my new cabin. I’ve already referred to the technique above I used in my working life, I’ll finish with another I was very fond of. Called by the company that I believe invented it, Synectics, the NAF rating. It was (and may still be) a technique for evaluating the likely success of a new idea. The idea was that the idea was rated out of 10 for N(ovelty), A(ppeal) and F(easability)**. Any of these areas that rated less than a 7 was returned to, in order to find ways of increasing its score.
So all that remains for now is to rate the cabin idea. I reckon it goes like this, N – 7; A – 9; F – 7. Nothing to stop me there then. That’s a 1000 words so watch this space in future retirement blogs.
*What about this for a different twist. After two falls in icy conditions while out walking the dogs (not a first unfortunately) I did set up a very first – walking with a stick*** – first time in my life. Was this the kind of thing I was hoping for? Probably not.
**Feasibility score based on buying new land (not happening yet) and availability of materials hence photo of pallets at local college above, in case you were wondering.
***Two more with stick!
PS. Another lockdown, now that’s definitely not a new idea.