“The key point is how important it is to have new experiences when you are older in life, be around new people, to guard yourself from loneliness. If you’re the sort of person who’s happy shutting yourself away in your house then great, I get it. But if you’re not, then I think finding a group of people to be around is really important.”
Broadcaster and author Richard Osman, interviewed in Saga magazine October 2023
When you retire from teaching, you also retire from a ready-made community that is dynamic, diverse and ever-changing.
- Every year, there is a new influx of fresh-faced pupils / students.
- Every term new staff arrive, others get promoted, and some move on to different jobs or retirement.
Your school-based community may be frustrating, fast-paced, and possibly disorganised, but one thing it will never will be is static.
That’s why it’s important to find new communities in retirement, and as early as possible, even before you walk out through the school gates for the last time.
Peace and quiet at last
At first, you may savour the peace and quiet, the absence of school bells, the lack of yelling children and annoying colleagues. However, what you will probably notice is that the amount you have to talk about (or at least complain about) will decrease.
Your partner may welcome the absence of a daily debrief that goes on for at least one gin and tonic. However, if it is replaced with “Well, I didn’t do much today, walked the dog, fixed the broken gate hinge and got three questions right on ‘Impossible’”, that’s a sign that you have not replaced the daily interaction with other people with any meaningful human interaction.
Being part of a community (or several communities) isn’t just about conversation and interaction.
- It provides a support system that is independent of work status and (ideally) non-judgmental.
- It provides a structure to your week, something again that you might not immediately miss after the routine of the timetable.
- It will probably stretch your brain a little too if you pick your communities well.
- It may also provide an opportunity to give something back, either through volunteering or just being there for others.
New communities = new possibilities
Finding your new community, or expanding an existing one, also opens you up to new conversations, different ideas, fresh approaches, and unexpected opportunities.
In the Saga article, Osman recounts how he was concerned about his own mum being lonely, and suggested she move into a retirement community. It was a wise investment; his mum loved it, and he got to meet the people who lived there too. These meeting over tea and cake served as the inspiration for his “Thursday Murder Club” crime series, which has sold millions of copies and is soon to start filming.
“Community is absolutely the heart of the thing. People, community, laughter, entertainments, game-playing, that’s what I would like to have.”
Richard Osman
Who knows, if you join a new community, there might be a best-selling book in the experiences somewhere…
Not sure what you’ll do every day if you retire early?
Join me for a free 30-minute Discovery chat where we’ll discuss where you are now, and where you want to be in retirement. From there, we can discuss how I can get you to reach those goals with more in-depth retirement planning and advice.
