The idea of a second life offers endless possibilities. My avatars are going to take innumerable forms and I am going to be endlessly reincarnated.
I’m not adopting the latest paradigm shift for those in the early retirement category. I’m ignoring them all and kicking up my heels. I’m doing as I please; extending my lifespan and if I die it will be disgracefully! Within limits of course, but there are no opportunities for anyone to subjugate or demean my female avatars.
I’m bored by articles about investing for retirement, post retirement careers and reverse mortgages. Wasn’t economic rationalism killed off by the GFC? I’m going to bury the protestant work ethic.
If I believed everything I read, I’d conceive of myself as layers of sandwich filling squeezed between two slices of bread. I’m not accepting membership of any sandwich generation. That’s not for me. The concept needs to be pushed into the academic cloisters, where I’m sure it originated.
I’m going to build a community of early retirees so we can create socially aware, brave second lifers. If you don’t already have prowess in blogging, twittering and kinderling, then like me, you need to learn. Early retirees have the possibility of another 40 years of life so they need to push out their imaginary boundaries and embrace technology. I know how hard that can be!
A journalist at the Guardian claims that working until 75 could become the norm. Let’s show him that he is wrong, we’re not spending our whole life focussed on one small section of the world’s endless possibilities. Nor are we spending lots of time playing simulation games. We’re climbing Everest, fighting world poverty, global warming and finding the time and energy to jump into a spaceship. We’re orbitting the earth and reflecting on the smallness of our planet.
I’m awaiting your contributions so we can build a community of extraordinary early retirees. Where will we start – with the characters and events for a short story, a movie, a novel? Remember the sky need not be the limit. Let’s draw on our life experiences, plan adventures, write about them, bring our ideas to fruition and share the outcomes. Now it’s over to you.
Second life for early retirees 