Retired but not retiring…

Several decades ago, some wordsmith came up with the phrase “Freedom 55”.  It was catchy and supported the idea that 55 was an ideal age at which to retire.  And that if you followed the advice of financial planners at London Life (now Canada Life), you could live happily ever after.  That fantasy presupposed a good day job with lots of pension money stored up and few if any subsequent calls on your finances such as mortgage payments, educational loans for children, and your very good health.  “Freedom 55” as a company brand was retired in 2020! Hmmmm…?

One of the sales pitches for early retirement is that you can leave the work force to enjoy life and do something that you really like.  Which presupposes that your job is just another word for drudgery.  Thankfully, that is not the case for those of us in the world of the performing arts and our revenue-earning life and our personal-fulfillment life are the same. We are fortunate.   My yearly trips to the doctor’s office during my post-55 years – and there have been a lot of them! – invariably included questions as to whether or not I was still employed. Until May 3, 2025, I could say that I was and I was still having fun. The doctor would applaud and encourage me to continue working as long as I was fulfilled and had my health.   I was and I have.  However, we all dream of some ‘free time’ and I felt that what with the drama of the epidemic, its aftermath, the stabilizing of the arts world and the appearance of post-pandemic ‘bright young things’ with more future than past, it would be a good time to uncouple from the mother ship.

Many of my friends and colleagues ask me how I am enjoying retirement.  Truthfully, I haven’t been at it long enough to know.  I am traveling as much as I used to, attending an enormous number of performances, ‘doing lunch’ with colleagues and keeping myself informed as to the health of the arts world.  I just don’t have to be at the office at 10 am, staying till 6 pm Monday to Friday.  I think that the most significant change is my freedom from ‘must’.  Now words like ‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’, ‘should’, ‘could’ or ‘possibly’ can be used without guilt. Academically speaking, everything is an elective. Routine and predictability have their attractions and give one security but does one really want the final years dictated by external forces? 

Among the perks of retirement means there is time for quixotic activities, such as a blog.  Some could see a blog as a self-indulgence and indeed, why would the general public, or even my digital ‘friends’, care what I think?  About anything?  Still, blogs, diaries, etc. are an opportunity to muse online…whether anyone reads one’s comments is more-or-less immaterial.  I am reminded of Cecily’s comment to Algernon when he asks to see her diary. “Oh no. You see, it is simply a very young girl’s record of her own thoughts and impressions and consequently meant for publication.” And so, ‘Retired but not Retiring’ is simply a mature adult’s record of his own thoughts and impressions and consequently thrown out into the digital ether.  But a word of warning, be prepared for almost anything…

Col. Barney