By John

Every year in North America hundreds of thousands of people in their golden years decide that they have been in the rat race for too long and retire. Retirement usually means spending the money painfully scrimped and saved over the course of a working life, perhaps selling the family house for something costlier, and maybe even buying that long awaited sports car. Some couples decide to head south instead of enduring our harsh Canadian winters or whisk off to Europe for a relaxing vacation. Retirement, to some, becomes a fruitless endeavour to regain the lost memories and freedom of their youth; before they were harnessed to the eroding drudgery of suburbia. This second chance promises to provide the things that even a happy, memorable childhood lack: expensive vacations and cars, companionship and the comfort of knowing that the working years are over.

Although this vision does seem like a formidable future, many retirees find themselves growing increasing restless with their so-called utopian environment. After the relaxation period is over, the longing to be useful again becomes evident to become an active member of society again. One of the most famous literary retirees is Lord Tennyson’s Ulysses. Ulysses is longing to relive the time when he was an adventurer battling the mighty gods and defeating the Trojan army. Now Ulysses sees himself as a proverbial deadwood, not unlike how many other retirees start to see themselves. They would like to retain the usefulness they once had, as if some how to justify their very existence. Unfortunately, there is no cure-all solution, but in the poem Ulysses would like to believe that a ship, with a crew and infinite possibilities lying ahead of them would expiate his longing. The lines “There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail; / There gloom the dark, broad seas / My mariners,” demonstrates Ulysses’ hunger for such a ship. Even though he may be too old to do any productive sailing, in his own mind set he once again has a purpose. The whole idea of longing for usefulness proves that you can retire a person but you can never retire their mind.

By John