An Episodic Retirement

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I recently read an article by Oliver Burkeman in The Guardian in which he queried whether or not we can have a meaningful life without a sense of continuity. 

It transpires that most people are Diachronic. That is to say that their life is a single story, moving from one stage to another, each stage connected by many threads to both its prequel and sequel.

There are, however, others who are Episodic. The various periods of their lives have seemingly no connection with what has gone before. Experiences are remembered but have no bearing on where and who the person is now, and there is no obvious order to the random episodes lived.

I suspect that it is family and friends that very much root us to our past and help provide the running continuum that takes us from birth, school, work and ultimately into retirement. However, Diachronics can be anxious about what they have done with their lives and that continuous thread can prevent the vital change that would really be better for them as they continue to live up to expectations and the pattern set by their past experiences.

Whilst having no desire to separate myself from my connections, if ever there was a period of my life calling out for an Episodic approach, it has to be retirement. For the first time, there is the potential for a complete disconnect with so many facets of the past and, of course, how many is up to the individual.

I have certainly met people who, now retired, have moved on both physically and mentally, retaining no connection with their career or any friends or colleagues associated with the period of their working lives. They have essentially re-invented themselves, discovered new interests, a new place to live and in so doing new friends and acquaintances. Time has also brought distance and a certain level of amnesia about their past.

In retirement there is something very appealing for me about the Episodic approach. It is such a new phase of life that it may well be that it deserves a completely new start in a new place. It is just that I would want to bring my family and friends along to share it too!


Comments

Debra Journet said…
This is very interesting to me because narrative theory, partly in relation to identity construction, was a big part of what I worked on before retirement. I think the dominant view--at least in the social sciences like psychology or anthropology--as well as among those who do narrative theory itself, is that people do try to make sense of their lives by (continually constructing and modifying) a sense of who they are that has a coherent beginning to middle to projected end. Strawson's position is not widely held; many people see him as a sort of devil's advocate. I think that part of the challenge of retirement is to find a way to continue the "story" of who you are when many of your actions are no longer aimed at fulfilling work-related goals. I have been an academic all my life and have organized my life such that fall was the beginning of the new year and summer was the end. I wrote because the story of being an academic means that you have publish your research. I am still trying to figure out what I am moving toward in retirement--especially since I can't go on vacation for the rest of my life!
12 May 2015 at 20:50
Caree Risover said…
I'm hoping I'm on my second middle and not the end! However, I agree that installing ourselves with a work ethic militates against finding any real meaning in one long holiday, nice though it sounds. Instead I'm treating it as an adventure in self-discovery coupled with the wisdom of the years and freed from the yoke of commitment!
13 May 2015 at 12:14
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