PAINTER, PUZZLER OR PUTZ: YOUR RETIREMENT PERSONA
Nobody wants to be a putz
Everybody wants "to paint, to write, to travel" when they retire. Painting: Creativity, Art and Nature By "painter" I mean here one who does virtually any creative and constructive activity such as painting with sound: singing, making music; painting with your body: dance or Tai Chi or yoga; actually painting your backyard fence, or "painting" the yard with flowers or vegetables grown by you; as well as actually drawing, sketching or painting with oils or acrylics. I suppose one must include scrapbooking (which has a surprisingly long history) and its modern version, creating web sites. Writing is a form of painting with words, whether you are writing poetry, fiction, non-fiction, personal letters or a blog. (Hey, blogging counts!) Whatever makes you eager to get up in the morning and get started. Just write your memoirs on a web page like this. Better than Facebooking all day, or poking at those little teeny telephones! |
Walking, hiking and camping seem to be in this category I call "painting," since a person is still creatively interacting with his surroundings almost every minute, but is not "thinking" in the usual complex, ego-centered ways. Thoreau seems to have set the standard here.
Communing with Nature is constructive, and makes no noise. Silence is good. One is freed toward "being" and not necessarily "doing" when in this mode -- the ultimate "creativity." One does not need to produce a visible artifact.
Puzzling: Sleuthing and Lifelong Learning
By a "puzzler" I mean one who does any mental activity - virtually any form of learning, especially some form of science, or mystery, or even history -- that requires figuring stuff out. This too is creative in a somewhat different way: it involves language (or math or conscious symbolism) whereas the "painting" type of creativity is mostly non-verbal.
Reading Cornwell, Grafton and Grisham novels and watching BBC mysteries; playing Tomb Raider-like video games are good puzzlers. I think certain video games (the ones with more puzzling than shooting -- hello, Lara Croft!) are really great for senior citizens. They keep your brain working, your metabolism high, and your thumbs going - especially if you are not texting with anyone. A few years ago I became addicted to Sudoku puzzles, which I discovered were not "math" after all. Since childhood I have always adored jigsaw puzzles and still have a closet shelf full of them.
I used to eat lunch next to a man who silently did the New York Times Crossword -- in PEN! But you don't necessarily have to have pencil, paper and a crossword puzzle in hand. I would count not only such things as actual puzzles (jigsaw, crosswords, Sudoku) but also the history's mysteries type of puzzle, such as tracking one's family Genealogy. Now there's a real living puzzle! I have spent decades doing my family history, and it will never be complete. There is always a missing piece lying out there somewhere.
"Puzzling" is something that requires active deductive work and participation on your part. (I'm not sure watching "Jeopardy" on TV counts; but then again maybe it does.) To this end, simply taking an extension course in some subject that interests you represents puzzling. Even before retirement I was actively pursuing a lot of the world's mysteries, as described below in the Library section.
Communing with Nature is constructive, and makes no noise. Silence is good. One is freed toward "being" and not necessarily "doing" when in this mode -- the ultimate "creativity." One does not need to produce a visible artifact.
Puzzling: Sleuthing and Lifelong Learning
By a "puzzler" I mean one who does any mental activity - virtually any form of learning, especially some form of science, or mystery, or even history -- that requires figuring stuff out. This too is creative in a somewhat different way: it involves language (or math or conscious symbolism) whereas the "painting" type of creativity is mostly non-verbal.
Reading Cornwell, Grafton and Grisham novels and watching BBC mysteries; playing Tomb Raider-like video games are good puzzlers. I think certain video games (the ones with more puzzling than shooting -- hello, Lara Croft!) are really great for senior citizens. They keep your brain working, your metabolism high, and your thumbs going - especially if you are not texting with anyone. A few years ago I became addicted to Sudoku puzzles, which I discovered were not "math" after all. Since childhood I have always adored jigsaw puzzles and still have a closet shelf full of them.
I used to eat lunch next to a man who silently did the New York Times Crossword -- in PEN! But you don't necessarily have to have pencil, paper and a crossword puzzle in hand. I would count not only such things as actual puzzles (jigsaw, crosswords, Sudoku) but also the history's mysteries type of puzzle, such as tracking one's family Genealogy. Now there's a real living puzzle! I have spent decades doing my family history, and it will never be complete. There is always a missing piece lying out there somewhere.
"Puzzling" is something that requires active deductive work and participation on your part. (I'm not sure watching "Jeopardy" on TV counts; but then again maybe it does.) To this end, simply taking an extension course in some subject that interests you represents puzzling. Even before retirement I was actively pursuing a lot of the world's mysteries, as described below in the Library section.
On Long Distance and International Travel
I have not figured out exactly how to categorize "Travel" in my current philosophy. Is Travel a form of "painting"? Is it "puzzling"? I know people who do beautiful photography while traveling. That is certainly creative. I suspect that, like walking, simply absorbing new surroundings, the people, sights and sounds -- interacting -- is creative, or even a form of "puzzling."
But what if you just spend a lot of money and do mostly nothing except eat, drink or play the slot machines when you get there? If it's just sheer Consumerism, buying into the travel ads without thinking, then I think you're being a putz.
I have friends both young and old who really love to travel, I mean a lot, I mean world-wide. But I did so much of that in my youth -- didn't we all? -- that the idea no longer excites me. Long lines, invasive airport searches, currency exchange, foreign shopping,Turbulence? Not my cup of tea.
I am currently and voluntarily home-bound, surrounded by books and bookcases in every room.
I have not figured out exactly how to categorize "Travel" in my current philosophy. Is Travel a form of "painting"? Is it "puzzling"? I know people who do beautiful photography while traveling. That is certainly creative. I suspect that, like walking, simply absorbing new surroundings, the people, sights and sounds -- interacting -- is creative, or even a form of "puzzling."
But what if you just spend a lot of money and do mostly nothing except eat, drink or play the slot machines when you get there? If it's just sheer Consumerism, buying into the travel ads without thinking, then I think you're being a putz.
I have friends both young and old who really love to travel, I mean a lot, I mean world-wide. But I did so much of that in my youth -- didn't we all? -- that the idea no longer excites me. Long lines, invasive airport searches, currency exchange, foreign shopping,Turbulence? Not my cup of tea.
I am currently and voluntarily home-bound, surrounded by books and bookcases in every room.
Reading and Writing, especially journals and blogs
My current solution is to "travel" by exploring other people's thoughts and locations, whether they are living or long dead, whether they wrote ancient books, modern humor and mystery, or "literary" blogs. I am not searching for "answers," but rather pursuing confirmation of ideas that have been developing for long periods of time. I'm always on the lookout for new friends, whether in the form of books or new web sites and blogs to visit.
You should know that I have parked most of my Science and Religion writings at another location, due to their more ancient and serious philosophical nature; while my notes on recent American History, on a somewhat lighter note, remain on this site. .
As you can see, I have made a new hobby out of simply "curating" my own libraries. The current site was designed partly to help keep track of a growing inventory of books to be kept in a safe lace. Much of my library is non-fiction, but I also list a few favorite fiction titles and biographies. I am not a book "collector" except for these old favorites.
You should know that I have parked most of my Science and Religion writings at another location, due to their more ancient and serious philosophical nature; while my notes on recent American History, on a somewhat lighter note, remain on this site. .
As you can see, I have made a new hobby out of simply "curating" my own libraries. The current site was designed partly to help keep track of a growing inventory of books to be kept in a safe lace. Much of my library is non-fiction, but I also list a few favorite fiction titles and biographies. I am not a book "collector" except for these old favorites.
ELDERPLAY
ADULT FANS OF LEGO
A few years ago I was completely bowled over by a new idea -- adults playing with Lego bricks! This combines both the technical "puzzling" and creative constructions or "painting" that are so basic to my personal philosophy. Where else can you find such a combination -- plus the factor of "play"? It's a perfect solution for the sedentary senior with some money for materials or kits, and lots of "leisure" time in his/her retirement. I call this concept "Elderplay."
More about this at http://elderplay.weebly.com/ our web site complete with detailed photographs.
A few years ago I was completely bowled over by a new idea -- adults playing with Lego bricks! This combines both the technical "puzzling" and creative constructions or "painting" that are so basic to my personal philosophy. Where else can you find such a combination -- plus the factor of "play"? It's a perfect solution for the sedentary senior with some money for materials or kits, and lots of "leisure" time in his/her retirement. I call this concept "Elderplay."
More about this at http://elderplay.weebly.com/ our web site complete with detailed photographs.
A NEW WRINKLE! PAINT BY NUMBERS -- AGAIN!
While sorting out items from an old family storage unit, I came across three beautiful old Paint by Number paintings, meticulously painted by a family friend as a gift to my parents. All parties are now deceased, but I looked the paintings up in the Paint by Number museum/archive and found them. Then I even found some there that I had painted as a child in the 1950s, and another as an adult in the 1970s. Nostalgia.
I had always thought that lovely hobby had died out, never to be seen again. Then I wondered if anyone was still making these kits any more. Imagine my surprise when I found out 'PBN" has come back as a hugely popular craft hobby again. The whole industry has been reworked to fit the digital age, but here they are!
See the Gallery page for some recent results.
While sorting out items from an old family storage unit, I came across three beautiful old Paint by Number paintings, meticulously painted by a family friend as a gift to my parents. All parties are now deceased, but I looked the paintings up in the Paint by Number museum/archive and found them. Then I even found some there that I had painted as a child in the 1950s, and another as an adult in the 1970s. Nostalgia.
I had always thought that lovely hobby had died out, never to be seen again. Then I wondered if anyone was still making these kits any more. Imagine my surprise when I found out 'PBN" has come back as a hugely popular craft hobby again. The whole industry has been reworked to fit the digital age, but here they are!
See the Gallery page for some recent results.
A MOTHER'S HISTORY OF THE 20TH CENTURY
"A Mother's History of the 20th Century" is the full, formal name of my autobiography, which comes to you in parts, as blog memoirs in the form of a web page, and not as a hard copy book to read. It does not follow a chronology in the expected way. I hope you enjoy chasing ideas around in this way. I do mention dates, wars, or Presidents occasionally so that no one will get too far lost. I hope you enjoy this little experiment in writing.
My story comes to you as subjects and themes, not as a chronological list with dates, like a resume.* I always hated "History" as a school subject, because it was just a boring list of names and dates, and mostly military-political history at that (i.e. War) to which I felt allergic. One of my birthday parties was seriously ruined by the announcement that USA had just declared war on Japan, signalling our entry into World War II. Read more...
My story comes to you as subjects and themes, not as a chronological list with dates, like a resume.* I always hated "History" as a school subject, because it was just a boring list of names and dates, and mostly military-political history at that (i.e. War) to which I felt allergic. One of my birthday parties was seriously ruined by the announcement that USA had just declared war on Japan, signalling our entry into World War II. Read more...
Although I don't like "trivia" per se, I think some of the old technology was not the least bit trivial. It was basic to daily life. Some of that technology still remains, I'm not sure where. Here is a little blog page you can respond to with your memories.
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One day I discovered
the meaning of life.
But then I forgot.
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