Jan 14 2012
Old Growth 10– Keep Learning, Keep Connecting
One of the pitfalls of getting older is social and intellectual isolation. Often it happens after retirement when we lose our work connections. Sometimes the death of a spouse is the cause. Or, if we get physically or mentally frailer, we don’t have the confidence or the patience we once had, so we stay home.
Photo by Marcin Kempski
Click here to listen to Keep Learning, Keep Connecting, episode 10 of Old Growth, my radio series about life after 65. (Scroll down to episode 10)
Learning about everything
The 100 members of the Learning in Retirement Group in Nelson set learning tasks for the group– learn about geology, photography, healthy aging, aquatic fitness, writing and publishing– and they go out and find someone to learn it from. They take field trips, making sure they go on a bus rather than in cars because it’s more fun that way.
Pursuing social connection
Social connection is part of the point. The four members of the group I interviewed for this show– Judy Biggin, Marilyn Pollard, Roger Oliver, and Phyllis Dale– all talked about how they had made so many new friends. They are clear that social connectedness is a social determinant of health, and they are enthusiastically pursuing connection.
Activism and excitement
They are activists too. They discuss their attempts to get more seniors programs at the pool in Nelson and to get better sidewalk maintenance in the winter.
There is a real sense of excitement in this group, and I hope this episode of the show conveys that.
Tune in
Click here to listen to the podcast of this episode of Old Growth (scroll down to Episode 10).
For a complete list and descriptions of all Old Growth shows, click here.
I produced the eleven episodes of Old Growth for Kootenay Co-op Radio on a New Horizons for Seniors grant in the fall of 2011.
Nelson’s Learning in Retirement group is even getting online. They’ve got a blog at http://lirnelson.inthekoots.com/.