Stepping Into The Future | A Retirement Journal

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Finding My Volunteer Niche
1
December 11, 2018 by Jean

When I was planning for retirement, I always assumed that it would include volunteer activity, which I had difficulty finding …
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Category: Aging, garden, Time/Activities | Tags: aging, Maine Senior Colleges, Master Gardener Volunteers, McLaughlin Garden, volunteer work
Framing Aging: Second Childhood
13
November 14, 2018 by Jean

In American culture, we often imagine aging as the downhill side of a parabola, a period of decline that follows …
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Category: Aging | Tags: aging, dementia, framing aging, media images of aging, well-being
Retirement as an Expansive Time of Life
3
November 3, 2018 by Jean

I used to chuckle about retirees who claimed they couldn’t remember how they previously found time to hold a job, …
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Category: Social relationships, Time/Activities | Tags: choral singing, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, friendship, garden, Maine Senior Colleges, Master Gardener Volunteers, social life, time utilization
Social Isolation, Social Engagement, and Networks of Support
7
September 30, 2018 by Jean

At last week’s meeting of my Solo Seniors support group, the discussion turned to the topic of social isolation. As …
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Category: Aging, Social relationships | Tags: aging, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, friendship, living alone, Maine Senior Colleges, Master Gardener Volunteers, single women, social relationships
Solo Seniors: The Courage to Change the Things I Can
21
July 21, 2018 by Jean

I try to live by the philosophy of the serenity prayer. I’m probably best at the second part, “the courage …
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Category: Aging, Social relationships | Tags: aging, living alone, research on aging, serenity prayer, single women, social relationships, solo aging, solo seniors, support groups, University of Southern Maine
Time and Energy
9
July 7, 2018 by Jean

I apologize for my long silence here. I’ve been struggling to find time and energy for blogging. I’m not the …
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Category: Aging, Maine, Time/Activities | Tags: aging, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, creative writing, Master Gardener Volunteers, senior college, time utilization
Reframing Aging
15
May 1, 2018 by Jean

Last week, I attended a Symposium on Aging put on by the interdisciplinary Aging Initiative at the University of Southern …
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Category: Aging | Tags: aging, Aging Initiative, Elzabeth Peavey, FrameWorks Institute, framing, intellectual stimulation, University of Southern Maine

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I am Jean Potuchek, a professional sociologist who has just stepped into the next phase of my life, retirement, after more than thirty years of college teaching. This blog is about my experience of that new phase of life.

Please join me as I step into my future.

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