Talk of the Towns 9/8/21: Reflections on Retirement

Producer/Host: Ron Beard How did you come to contemplate retirement for yourself… what were the clues that you might be ready to consider retiring (tipping points)? What questions did it raise for you? What did you learn about yourself in this time of contemplating retirement? What is some of the new research into older people and creativity? How did that factor into your own views about what retirement might be for you? How do people deal with big changes in their lives? Are there any helpful stages? (Introduce William Bridges’ writings about Transition: endings, neutral zone, new beginning) I gather that, like any of us who love learning and figuring things out, you began to study up on retirement… what did you learn from that process? What stood out from your conversations with others (those who had retired, those who had not retired) and from writings about retirement? So, in your book, you describe how you created a clear ending to your work life. Describe that process… what was difficult, what was easier? Did you discover elements of the neutral zone that Bridges writes about? What was that process like? What was your process of discovering your new beginnings? What have been some of the reactions to your book, as you have done readings and talks? Guest: Rebecca Milliken, author of Gaining Altitude—Retirement and Beyond, published by Atmosphere Press, 2021 About the host: Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.