Retirement is another thing I knew absolutely nothing about before taking this course, and still don’t feel like I have a firm grasp on. I DO know that words like pension, 401k, and social security have to do with it.
I ALSO know it’s basically defined as a person leaving their job or stopping work permanently. Our culture, and many others, see old age as a new stage or phase of life. For us, I think the general ideal is to stop working and live comfortably and do what you want. However, sitting around doing nothing isn’t the ideal, either.
We read an article in our class by Joel Savishinsky called, The Volunteer and the Saanyasin: Archetypes of Retirement in American and India. In it Savishinsky depicts the different forms of retirement in these two cultures; Americans like to volunteer in their old age, and Indians like to practice religious enlightenment.
Both of these archetypes, he argues, are meant to bring people fulfillment through pursuit in their old age. A saanyasin is a person who severs worldly ties, including relations with other people, and enters isolated meditation in their later years. But this in itself is a pursuit, and a saanyasin still serves as a model for others, which also brings that person fulfillment. Americans often pursue volunteer work, which brings increased ties with others and brings fulfillment through helping others. So while these seem opposed to one another– Americans increasing ties, Indians severing ties– both serve as active pursuits, ways to influence others, and paths to fulfillment.
This led me to think of my own life after the age of 65, which I hadn’t done before this class. I do feel like I would like pursue the typical ideal of travel, if that can be afforded to me, and maybe taking up another skill like starting a rock band or being a stand up comedian (or maybe knitting. Who knows?). But these are also things I want to pursue now in my life– why put off travel, hobbies, happiness, and fulfillment until my old age? I also don’t think I want to completely stop working, because I feel like I’ll be wanting to do something productive. But hey, maybe that’ll change once I actually reach that point in my life.
Anyway, there are a lot of people who work in their old age (only 10% of Americans can afford to completely retire, after all), and in class we watched this awesome video about a needle factory in Needham, MA, where the average age of the workers is 74. These people all seem to love their job– it gives them something to do, makes them feel needed– things I think we all, no matter our age, can relate to (sometimes on vacations I just have no idea what to do since there’s no structure! And if I’m at work and don’t feel needed? I’ll put half as much effort into my job).
So while I think our culture at large views retirement as a new stage of life, in a lot of ways it doesn’t seem all that different (except there might not be as much pressure to provide for your children, etc). A lot of people keep working until the day they die, and I’m starting to think that’s the way I’d like my life to go. What else am I going to do after I retire?
A Blog About Aging 