Retirement Life Matters

Racing the Demon

Christa King — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:12:06 +0000

We run so hard, work so frantically to accomplish…what? What is our goal? What is the end of the race? When will we know we have done enough? Are we really running toward something? Perhaps we should ask ourselves what we are running from. I’ve named my personal demon “the black dog” after the Sherlock [...]

The post Racing the Demon appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.

Jung on Death as the Goal of Life

John Robinson, Ph.D., D.Min. — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:10:24 +0000

That amazing psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, understood that aging, instead of being a time of ossification and decline, was in fact a profoundly important stage of psychological and spiritual growth. More amazingly, he argued that death was actually the goal and fulfillment of life. Here is what he said. Let it touch you and then we’ll [...]

The post Jung on Death as the Goal of Life appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.

Moving On

Christa King — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 18:03:41 +0000

Many people retire to Arizona, but last year I retired from there. My sisters, one brother and many dear friends are all in the Denver area, so it seemed a natural decision. First, of course, employment. I made a list of industries I might enjoy, then looked up every entity I could think of, made [...]

The post Moving On appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.

The Remarkable Real Meaning of “Old”

John Robinson, Ph.D., D.Min. — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:56:49 +0000

In The Spirituality of Later Life Series (Vol. 3) published by the Second Journey website (www.SecondJourney.org), I recently ran across a remarkable etymological exploration of the word “old” by Drew Leder, a philosophy professor at Loyola University Maryland. Examining the word, he explained, It derives from the Indo-European base-word “al,” meaning “to grow, nourish.” From [...]

The post The Remarkable Real Meaning of “Old” appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.

Nimbus the Cat – A Eulogy

Christa King — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 18:00:21 +0000

After my son died several years ago, I took in his cat, Nimbus. I hadn’t had a pet for some time and enjoyed the sense of freedom that comes with a lack of responsibility. When I traveled to Oaxaca or Maui or Santa Fe, I would just water the plants, take out the trash, arrange [...]

The post Nimbus the Cat – A Eulogy appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.

Oath to Myself on the Last Stage of Getting Old

John Robinson, Ph.D., D.Min. — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:39:45 +0000

As I reflect on the final stage of aging – when my body begins its more rapid decline toward death – I find myself hoping that I will handle it with grace, love and dignity. I thought, “Perhaps I should make an oath to myself, a promise to do it as well as I possibly [...]

The post Oath to Myself on the Last Stage of Getting Old appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.

Retirement Leisure: What About a Book Group?

Christa King — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:57:45 +0000

Our book group put together a list of questions to use during discussions. We don’t necessarily go down the list from top to bottom. Someone will just start talking about the things that occurred to them and then we jump from one subject to the other. We’ve read science fiction, poetry, non-fiction, mysteries and literary [...]

The post Retirement Leisure: What About a Book Group? appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.

You are An Elder – Be One!

John Robinson, Ph.D., D.Min. — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:19:10 +0000

So many of us older folks wish vaguely for a new role in the would, but easily stymied by the culture’s loss of interest in our fading voices, and full of self-doubt, we go back to the TV remote or golf course and miss another opportunity. Like Peggy Lee, we ask, “Is this all there [...]

The post You are An Elder – Be One! appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.

The Courage to Age

John Robinson, Ph.D., D.Min. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:05:59 +0000

You hear it all the time: “Aging is not for sissies.” I’ve even found myself repeating that trite phrase, especially when things get really hard for a while. It’s not fun or easy to care for your mother in dementia, to witness her death, to sit through your wife’s frightening carotid surgery, to perform your [...]

The post The Courage to Age appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.

Baby, It’s Dry Out Here

Christa King — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:53:08 +0000

About a year ago, I moved from Tucson to Denver. I know, most people retire to Arizona, rather than from Arizona, but SB 1070 seemed like legislated racism to me, and it was just the last political straw. The majority of my family members live in Denver, along with dear friends, and it has been [...]

The post Baby, It’s Dry Out Here appeared first on Retirement Life Matters.