Recreation for pre-boomers takes on a new meaning
The dictionary tells us recreation is the refreshment of body and mind, as after work, by some form of play, amusement or relaxation. It was something we did all the time as kids and strived to find time for throughout our years of employment. In retirement, pre-boomers hoped to rediscover the enjoyment in recreation we experienced as kids. But must of us found we could not go back to those carefree days of our youth. We had to do more than entertain ourselves.
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Take my situation. I was in the eyes of many a workaholic. Therefore I had a tough time retiring from the advertising business, which I loved. So I did not leave the game and hang up the spikes until, at age 67, I sold my ownership in the ad agency I founded some 20 years earlier. There was a non-compete clause in the sales agreement prohibiting me from engaging in any activities within the industry. This is standard in these kinds of contracts, but it essentially shut me down from doing what I did for 45 years. To keep me from climbing the walls at home, I needed to find something to do with my energy, experience and enthusiasm for being creative. Recreation could wait.
Having written a popular marketing book and hundreds of articles about advertising, I thought maybe there was a novel in me. So I wrote my first full-length novel. I took me a year. This was followed by another work of fiction. About the time I finished the manuscript for the second book, my non-compete expired. Not long after that I was consulting for a number of clients, serving as an expert witness on marketing cases, writing articles and speaking at seminars and conventions. I was back in the game and loving it. Recreation was on the back burner again.
For many years, I had been involved in marketing to the baby boomers and became somewhat of an expert on that generation of 76 million consumers. However, I had overlooked my own generation: the pre-boomers. This realization caused me to do some research on those of us born between 1930 and 1945 and to discover that virtually everyone else overlooked us too. We were the “forgotten generation.”
As a result of this revelation, I started writing the “Pre-boomer Musings” blog. The idea behind it is to offer thoughts, comments and opinions on topics of interest to our generation. Back in May when the blog first appeared, I expected to post two articles a week. Before long the weekly postings expanded to twice that number. The response has been heartening too, so this effort will move on to the next step early next year.
The point of my story is that I am no different than many retirees. We don’t want to stop thinking, being involved or feeling relevant. Rather then looking for nonproductive recreation to pass the time, we want to contribute something to society. Re-creating ourselves by originating, producing, bringing about or causing something to happen that will be good for others and provide us with a sense of accomplishment. Being willing to be of service has a way of refreshing your body, mind and spirit. Let us know how you re-created yourself in retirement and how it changed your life.
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