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LIVING WITH RETIREMENT Roy Henson "I've been so busy since I retired, I wonder that I ever had time to go to work!" So everyone says after they've been retired a short while. I don't know if the jobs eventually run out and it gets less busy in a year or two! But seriously, we are challenged these days to develop what I once read of as "the leisure ethic". I suppose it means in part to use our retirement in ways that will benefit the community as well as ourselves. Volunteerism is a challenge to us all, particularly in these times where so many benevolent organisations are calling out for help. The Red Cross, the Smith Family, St Vincent de Paul, to name just three, are worthy of our support in practical ways. In another part of this magazine, I suggest that Baptist Community Services could provide us with opportunities to be useful for the benefit of others. Another side of the question relates to the physical and intellectual stimulation we who are older need to keep ourselves going. Our Leisure Club is an expression of this. It has been suggested that there may be other ways of expanding our activities in order to further enrich our latter years. Some time ago, Doreen and I visited the Shepherd's Centre in Kansas City. For the past 20 years or more this Centre has provided a whole program of activities for some of the elderly of that city. It started when the local Methodist Church decided to establish a retirement village for its elderly parishioners. It sent a letter out asking for ideas for the proposed village, and received instead an overwhelming request not to build a village, but to provide facilities for the elderly while they continued to live in their own homes. The minister, Dr Kenneth Cole told how they had then developed a partnership with the other churches of the area, and founded the Centre using the Methodist buildings for the various activities. When we went there, we saw over 300 elderly citizens participating in various group activities, from learning Spanish to pottery, art, history, dance, politics, etc. Dr Cole also indicated that there were a group of retired men with practical skills, who volunteered to undertake small repair tasks such as renewing door locks etc for the elderly members. It was a most interesting visit, and the participants seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their pursuits. Naturally there were costs involved, paying for meals and tutors etc, although I think some of these were also volunteers. Would the idea work with us? As suggested above, some of us might feel we don't have enough time now, let alone for new ventures! Also there may well be sufficient opportunities in community based programs in Canberra to follow our interests in learning new skills etc. without establishing more. On the other hand, perhaps we do need to re-arrange our time in order to bring some freshness into our experience. (How easy it is to get into a rut!). Perhaps we have never thought about the potential of new learning activities. I heard while writing this, a suggestion on the radio that mental stimulation is as important in old age as is physical. We are never too old to learn! But it is not easy to have a serious discussion after church on Sunday morning. The people in Kansas City seemed to be committed to a half day per week for a discreet period depending on the nature of the course they undertook. One advantage of such a learning opportunity would be that one was sitting with people of the same age grouping. (Ever done a course of study with clever post graduate students who knew it all and were always ten steps ahead?). I suppose they started off in a small way, with one or two class activities in areas chosen by the members. Perhaps that is the way to go. Try it and see. |
