If you feel stuck, you’re not failing. You’re pausing. That distinction matters, especially after retirement or during the years leading up to it. There’s a lot of quiet pressure to “figure it out,” to replace one full life with another just as full, just as productive, just as impressive. When that doesn’t happen quickly, people […]
Purpose is often misunderstood. We tend to think of it as something large and dramatic, a calling, a mission statement, a bold declaration of what comes next. For many people in midlife and early retirement, that expectation alone can feel paralyzing. If purpose has to be big, public, or life-defining, what happens when all you […]
We are good at talking about change. We are far less comfortable talking about transition. Change is what happens on the outside. Retirement dates arrive. Jobs end. Routines shift. Calendars suddenly open up. Change is visible and often measurable. Transition, on the other hand, happens on the inside. It’s the emotional and psychological process of […]
Letting go of old identities is easy to talk about and very hard to do. We live in a world that encourages us to introduce ourselves by what we do. “I’m a teacher.” “I’m a nurse.” “I’m an accountant.” Over time, those labels stop being descriptions and start becoming definitions. They tell us who we […]
Turning 50 has a way of quietly changing the conversation you have with yourself. For many of us, it’s the first time we realize we are closer to the end of life than the beginning. Not dramatically or gloomily, but in a practical, honest one. You start to look back and take stock. For what […]
I started this series with a snowflake, a sunlit mountain, and a memory of skiing, desires that my body can no longer chase as it once could. Along the way, I have looked at knees that ache, choices that ask us to accept limits, burnout that teaches patience, and quieter adventures, such as writing a poem […]
Not long after we start asking whether life gets smaller when we “get it right,” another question sneaks in, usually unannounced: who decides what right even looks like now? Is it our doctors, our families, the well-meaning commercials, or the quiet voice in our own head that has learned to speak in warnings instead of […]
As we age, we’re often reminded, sometimes gently, sometimes loudly, of the risks we face: falling, cognitive decline, chronic health conditions. Cautious, “prudent” behaviour is presented as the responsible response. Sensible advice, yes, but it can also raise an unspoken question: if I get this right, will life get smaller? At lunch the other day, […]
As a group, we meet for lunch once a week. Conversation often drifts to the small aches and pains of aging, and which medications help, or don’t. One of the men who joins us lives with vascular dementia. Each week he tells the same stories, and each week we listen. He works hard to slow […]
Ah, Valentine’s Day arrives once more, With cards, and chocolates, and hearts galore. A day for love, they loudly proclaim Though our backs still ache just the same. Once, love was roses, late nights, and thrills, Now it’s shared calendars and prescription refills. We’ve traded diamonds for reading glasses, And candlelit dinners for sensible classes. […]
