The Identity of Journey's
Life is a narrative - one to tell.
We live presently, knowing our beginning as our past, our middle as current times and our ending as an unpredictable future - or as retirement.
When the view of retirement arises over our horizon, it can range from being a welcomed picture to a daunting one.
The image of retirement is painted as one that is revealed once we have reached the higher digits of our lifespan, having perhaps passed through the societal convention of undergoing education, working and building a family.
The career(s) we end up in becomes a norm in our day to day work life we familiarize ourselves with when we start, and it lasts for an extensive time of our lives. Our careers don't define us, but they become a significant part of our life experiences, contributing to shaping and evolving us into who we are. As life stories are recounted and shared, each chapter embodies a journey that contributes to illustrating the teller's identity. For those who have retired, they are more than just someone who has reached the end of their youthful path, they're the ones with more stories to tell. They are the narratives that have the most wisdom in their advice and that allow for us as listeners to gain new perspective and erudition with each new one we hear. So perhaps this is where the picture of younger lives surrounding an elder one sat upon on a puffy, comfy recliner armchair, by a fireplace and recounting stories of all sorts, comes from.
ANDREW JOHNSTON'S STORY
Away in a small English town, hidden in the depths of greenery and surrounded by nature, is where 78 year-old Andrew Johnston, spent his teenage years as a young lad in a group of outcasts, that flirted with girls and got up to mischief to live out their boyhoods.
The days of forestry were forced to be left behind when a harsh season swept by and cut down on income. As he laid in his lodge, this was not the future Andrew wanted to picture for himself anyways. So, taking aboard the advice of his ex-marine landlord, he brought a ticket that gave him the venture he was seeking for in life.
For Andrew, joining the Royal Navy brought more adventures of travel than it did anything else, as he docked at various locations around the world. As a young boy growing up, comic books, pictures and films conjured a dream of escapade away from his small town. But when that dream was fulfilled, his travels opened up his perspective to the realities and hardships of life in other countries, that were softened by the pages and moving motions he once saw.
Having immigrated to Australia, Andrew integrated himself into the history of coal mining in the Illawarra, becoming a deputy officer. Though days were repetitive - heading into darkness with a cap lamp, sweating from the continued motion of habitual muscle movements going back and forth, and working with a sense of riskiness - this is where Andrew met his mates he still keeps up with for a beer or two, having now retired and free to drink without worry about work the next morning.
For Andre Johnston, life has brought a chorus of career paths and options that have varied massively between themselves. The young carefree boy who once escaped a small town by lodging near forests, never would have know he'd one day travel across the border from Morocco to Algeria on a motorcycle, with a band of friends he'd meet in the Royal Navy. Who knew he'd be living the other half of his life away from his homeland. Full of worthwhile experiences and tales, Andrew has fulfilled his dream of adventure. Though he may not seek it anymore, his life has been directed by spontaneity and as he allows himself to relax, we may find another tale awaiting for him soon.
MONICA SAMU'S STORY
Defying the notion that retirement is reserved for those who reach an elder age and means the end of a working life, 30 going on 31 year-old Monica Samu has ended her 10 year service to the police force. As she walks on university campus grounds pursuing a new career, her youthfulness disguises her time spent training at the policing academy, working in the field and at the station, where she's witnessed more in life than those passing by to classes - having held responsibilities and characteristics that add to the shadows of her identity.
The environments we surround ourselves with can contribute to the emotions we feel - or switch off. For Monica, having lived a decade of her life dealing with those who display bad behavior has built up a barrier of caution and tolerance that is hard to let go of after so many years. The process of policing became systematic, but underneath she is her own person, where her time in the force is only one dimension to who she is.
For the most part, in comparison to some people, the majority of us live lucky and easy lives, where abundances of a contemporary and conventional life are the epitome of our problems and stresses. We hear stories of hardship of those living in third-world or war-torn countries, under the poverty line or in difficult to image environments and situations. Though for us to truly comprehend is a tough feat when we can only imagine. For Monica, working as a youth officer, she was put directly in contact with young individuals who had committed crimes, cautioning them but also being left opened to the background stories of their lives. The perception of misinterpreting troubled youths as crooks who are innately bad, has led Monica to want to make more of a change to prevent crimes, by helping those who fall into the environment of feeling it's the only coping mechanism to bypass the hardships of their lives.
Going to university usually represents the beginnings of a young individual pursuing the career path they desire. It's a passage of life that entails the accountability of studying and carefree nature of taking risks and having fun, while you're still young and hold no 'real world' responsibilities. It's young adulthood - the bridge of shaping a form to our identity we seek to construct in our future. There's no denying for Monica that policing is what she is still most familiar with as she transitions out of that journey. Retirement for her has not meant giving up, being lost or reaching the end of the road. Instead, it signifies being true to herself and dreaming bigger - where when she really does retire she'll have another journey waiting to be narrated.
The concept of retirement brings about a multitude of angles to consider ourselves, from thoughts on financing and superannuation when we stop earning an income, to what we'll do with our time or if we'll fall into the stereotype that our lives will be as tedious as ever. Is that all we'll become though, just another retiree? Too often these labels and viewed conventions cloud the image of our individual identity's. The vivaciousness of living through careers and experiences, shine through that shadow to reveal the narratives embodying individuality and continued life in those who are venturing into the next chapter of their lives, which don't need to be their last.
