Jubilación

 

At the start of the year, I made the decision that this year I would ‘retire’.  I have been on a phased retirement track, working three days a week, for a couple of years now. But what does it actually mean to ‘retire’?

The dictionary defines retirement as:

“Withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from active working life”.

The word ‘retirement’ seems outdated and has a lot of negative connotations in an ageist society hell-bent on productivity. What does it mean to withdraw from active working life? To give up an occupation you are skilled at, and have been doing for many, many years?

I know I won’t be looking for ways to fill my time, because I do have plenty of options. In the past couple of years, I have been adding to my interests. But the transition for many retirees is difficult because for so long they have been doing something they’re good at, and for which they’ve received accolades and recognition. When they retire, they’re at the top of their game, have climbed ladders, may be the experts in their small or large circles. What does it mean to start over? To be lumped into one category of ‘Retirees’.  As one woman in an online group chat said, “No one ever asks what it is you retired from’.

I am a beginner painter, a beginner at learning Spanish, a beginner at Pickle Ball. I’ve played tennis for many years, but I’m an average club tennis player on the downhill slope (wrong sporting metaphor).  I’ve been blogging for a little over two years. In my new interests I am a newbie! And as for writing? While I have been writing for a while, I am not a published author, which, like it or not, gives me little credibility as a writer.

But then the question becomes: Do you have to be accomplished at something for it to add value, meaning, and enjoyment to your life? The answer, of course, is no.

Then there is the actual word ‘retired’. People who dislike the word have come up with alternatives: ‘re-wired’, ‘revived’, ‘renewed’, ‘re-invented’ or ‘re-‘ something or other. But maybe it’s not ‘re’ anything. ‘Re’ in front of a word generally means doing something again. But this is a brand new phase of life. The Spanish word for retirement is ‘jubilación’. Sounds much better, doesn’t it?

So then, here I am, on the cusp of retirement (still months away, but time has a way of speeding up when you want it to slow down and the reverse is also true). How to contemplate and prepare for this new phase? (Yes, I can be an over-thinker, what a surprise). I may have been ‘transitioning’ into retirement these past couple of years, but to completely relinquish/detach/withdraw from my work?

I rarely, if ever, talk about my job or ‘what it is I do’ in a social setting. In fact, my friends, even my family, don’t fully understand what I do. (And isn’t it tedious when someone drones on about their job?). I don’t identify with my job or job title or any of that. Even when, at one time, the organization I work for offered business cards, I declined. Just more bits of paper to carry around, who needs that? BUT – what I do identify with are the qualities in myself I consider essential to my work i.e. a smart/logical/analytical brain. Okay, now that might be a problem.

Without that correlation between my work and its validation of that part of me I strongly identify with – who then will I be in retirement? Daily Wordle and Connections won’t cut it. What then will be the outlet for the brain function I prize so dearly if my other pursuits are all physical or creative in nature?

We tend to wish people a ‘happy retirement’ and look upon them with some envy as they walk into a life of unstructured freedom. But transitions are always complex, and ultimately, everyone wants to feel they’re a relevant, contributing member of society. Even retirees. But, let’s refer to them as ‘jubilados’. And I do believe that today’s jubiladas, like the ones I’ve met through various online groups, have established themselves as smart, interesting, creative women of substance with a lot to offer.

Onwards, then, towards ‘Jubilación’.