Retired Optometrist Seeks a Clearer Vision of Future
Retirement didn’t come gently to Fred Shorr. The 73-year-old optometrist loved his work and, until recently, thought little about leaving it. But, Shorr said, a day of reckoning came. The health provider that insured most of his patients issued him an ultimatum: Take 80 additional classroom hours of training, pass a therapeutics test and spend up to $2,000 on incidental expenses or be dropped from the network.
After long, hard deliberation, the Bakersfield resident decided that the conditions weren’t worth his time and expense. Earlier this month, after 48 years in optometry, he closed his practice, sold the building where he worked and tentatively began life as a retiree.
A plastic surgeon has asked Shorr to continue to perform occasional eye examinations at his office. But Shorr hasn’t decided exactly what to do next. He said his retirement from optometry has left him feeling somewhat depressed and upset.
“I’m being forced out,” Shorr said. “I’d like to continue, but I can’t, because it just wouldn’t be viable from a cost-benefit standpoint.”
Shorr has begun searching for a new part-time career. He said that he and his wife of 53 years, Betty, can live comfortably on savings and investments, so compensation isn’t a major issue.
But Shorr is uncertain whether a new vocation can give him a renewed sense of purpose. He consulted Barbara Reinhold, director of the Career Development Office at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.
Reinhold first offered him a quote from author Marilyn Ferguson: “Life sends us many opportunities brilliantly disguised as problems.” She told him to treat retirement not as an ending, but as a “recommencement.” Reinhold added, “In it, you take the best of what you’ve done and combine it with a collage of different new activities.”
Reinhold asked about Shorr’s interests outside optometry. He said that years ago he’d obtained a license to sell stocks, but chose not to pursue such a demanding line of work. Recently, he’s considered substitute teaching at local high schools because he enjoys sharing knowledge. His favorite leisure activities include traveling, bridge, poker, dining out and writing.
Reinhold and other experts offered this advice:
* Develop a post-retirement plan. More than 5 million seniors--nearly one in six--suffer from depressive symptoms, said Barry Lebowitz, chief of intervention research at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md. An additional 1 million are considered clinically depressed.
Though physical ailments sometimes provoke such depression, in many cases the sadness is related to seniors’ loss of long-held work roles and perceived status, said Dennis Lowe, director of the Center for the Family at Pepperdine University.
Reinhold told Shorr that recovery from a major life change such as sudden retirement can take a year or longer. There are, however, many ways Shorr can lift his spirits. Intelligently planning life after retirement is one of them.
“The best treatment for this is non-retirement,” said Dr. Byram Karasu, chairman of the psychiatry department at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Karasu urges retirees to dedicate themselves to second careers that invigorate them. A recent Cornell University study showed that men who continued to work after retirement had much higher morale and a lower incidence of depression than men who engaged only in leisure activities.
To prevent “spouse-in-the-house” syndrome--which occurs when two people who have spent only a few hours a day together suddenly find themselves together all the time--the Shorrs should discuss how to balance their togetherness and separateness in the months ahead, Lowe said.
Gene Cohen, director of the Center for Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University in Washington, suggested that Shorr create a “social portfolio” and structure it somewhat like his financial portfolio. In it, Shorr can list individual and group activities, requiring different levels of energy and mobility. “You’re limited only by your imagination,” Cohen said.
Shorr should include people of all ages in his networking roster, Karasu said. “Socializing with younger people can be rejuvenating.”
Reinhold told Shorr to consider joining a local senior transition group, in which he can discuss his recent life change with others who share his situation.
Finally, Karasu recommended that Shorr and other new retirees get full physical examinations. Those issued clean bills of health should exercise daily. Simply walking can be physically and emotionally beneficial, Karasu said.
* Write daily. Shorr said he has considered writing fiction again--he had loved writing as a youth. Reinhold suggested two books that can help him get started: “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron (Tarcher/Putnam, 1992), which offers daily writing exercises and creativity assignments; and “2000 Writer’s Market” (Writer’s Digest Books, 1999), which lists periodicals that accept fiction submissions.
Shorr could also join or form a writers group, where he could share his stories with other aspiring writers. He also could enroll in one of UCLA Extension’s online writing courses.
Most important, Reinhold said, Shorr should start a daily journal to record his thoughts and feelings about retirement. “It’s been shown that spending a half an hour a day writing not only has psychological benefits, but physiological benefits as well,” Reinhold said.
* Explore travel careers. Shorr might enjoy a second career as a tour director or cruise host. These jobs would allow him (and, in some cases, his wife too) to travel free and even earn $100 to $200 a day. The positions require good health, a positive attitude and an interest in helping others. William Newton, co-founder of the International Tour Management Institute in San Francisco, said about a third of the tour guides he trains are retirees who eventually lead overseas and motor coach tours, supervise cruise groups and serve as local or regional guides.
A variation on these vocations is “pied piper” work. Pied pipers are people who assemble groups of 10 to 15 travelers for package trips and in return receive free or discounted fares from travel agents, said Lauretta Blake, president of Working Vacation in San Jose. These individuals need excellent organizing skills and wide social networks.
Shorr could also consider serving as a cruise lecturer. “Presenters” give seminars on cruise ships and at travel destinations and also lead classes, said Mary Miller, president of Ticket to Adventure in St. Petersburg, Fla., and author of “How to Get a Job With a Cruise Line” (Ticket to Adventure, 1997). If Shorr wishes to pursue this work, Miller suggests that he film a three-minute video of his proposed presentation and submit it, along with a head-and-shoulders photo of himself and an introductory letter, to various cruise line entertainment departments.
* Consider teaching and mentoring opportunities. “Senior citizens make the best mentors because they’re more persistent, committed and caring with the kids,” said Susan Weinberger, president of Mentor Consulting Group in Norwalk, Conn. “They bring with them great knowledge from a lifetime of experience, and they can get kids interested about the working world which they’ve spent decades in.”
Several nonprofit mentoring groups match seniors with youths in need of educational and emotional support. The National Service Senior Corps, National Mentoring Partnership and the Experience Corps (sponsored by San Francisco-based Civic Ventures) are three such organizations. Nearly 14 million American children are in need of mentors, according to the NMP.
Shorr could contact these organizations about mentoring in the Bakersfield area. He could also check with local schools about teaching and mentoring opportunities.
* Become Internet savvy. Shorr said he has had little exposure to the Internet but agreed with Reinhold that he would greatly benefit from it. He could use the Web to investigate other part-time careers, for example.
Increasing numbers of seniors are going online to contact loved ones, shop and keep up with current events, said Beverly Goldberg, author of “Overcoming High-Tech Anxiety: Thriving in a Wired World” (Jossey-Bass, 1999). They tend to best learn computing skills in one-on-one tutorials, she said.
“Take time for all this,” Reinhold told Shorr. “Don’t push yourself too hard. Give yourself a chance to heal from this work separation. In the long run, you’ll find wonderful opportunities ahead. The number of possibilities you can pursue is extraordinary.”
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Time for a Change
Name: Fred Shorr
Occupation: Retired optometrist
Desired occupation: Uncertain
Quote: “Right now, I’m interested in just about anything.”
Counselor’s recommendation: Explore travel careers, freelance writing and teaching or mentoring. Build Internet skills.
About the Coach:
Barbara Reinhold is director of the Career Development Office at Smith College, in Northampton, Mass., and a career counselor for online job search company Monster.com. She also is the author of “Toxic Work: How to Overcome Stress, Overload and Burnout, and Revitalize Your Career” (Plume, 1997).
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
SENIOR RESOURCE GUIDE
GENERAL INTERNET SITES AND NEWSGROUPS
https://www.4seniors.com
https://www.beyond50.com
https://www.generationa.com
https://www.newchoices.com https://www.seasonedcitizen.com https://www.senior.com https://www.senior-center.com https://www.seniors.yahoo.com https://www.seniorsite.com https://www.thirdage.com soc.retirement soc.senior.issues
COMPUTER AND THE INTERNET
https://www.aarp.org/indexes/computers.html https://www.seniornet.org
MENTORING PROGRAMS
Civic Ventures/Experience Corps (415) 430-0141 or https://www.civicventures.org
National Mentoring Partnership Local chapter: The LA Mentoring Partnership (213) 627-0311 or https://www.mentoring.org
National Senior Service Corps. https://www.seniorcorps.org
UCSB Gevirtz Research Center volunteer opportunities in Santa Barbara (805) 893-7905 or https://education.ucsb.edu/~gvrtzweb
RETIREMENT
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) (800) 424-3410 or https://www.aarp.org
TRAVEL CAREERS
International Tour Management Institute training for aspiring tour directors (800) 442-4864 or https://www.itmitourtraining.com
National Park Service, Park Volunteer Opportunities https://www.nps.gov/volunteer
The Working Vacation Opportunities for Gentlemen Cruise Host (for ages 45 to 70, with better-than-average dancing and socializing skills)
(815) 485-8307 https://www.theworkingvacation.com
WRITING/ONLINE STUDY
UCLA Extension Online Writing Courses https://www.uclaextension.org/catalog
