Your post gave me a lot to think about. I'm almost 62, and I have seen changes in my own inner and outer life that I wonder whether a blueprint at one age differs from a blueprint at a later age, ir are there themes and threads that are consistent?
As for reading, I could be more intentional. I've started this year with a heavy dose of reading (all fiction) and now if I'm without a book I really love, I feel bereft. I just finished Howards End. i read it a number of years ago, but this time, for lack of a better phrase, I "got it," and it made a deep impression on me.
As for how many books, are left to you or to me, I'm at the age when i have an increasing confirmation bias in believing that medical breakthroughs will prolong healthy living. So, 77 appears to me now as a milestone somewhere in the middle of the road to come. Perhaps wishful thinking, but why not?
David - thanks for reading. I am curious about the same thing regarding the blueprint. I know I am not the same person I was at 20 but are there core parts of me that have remained consistent and will continue to do so throughout my life? I am not entirely sure but the experience of discovery is pretty fascinating.
I hope that you are right regarding how many years we have left. I think you probably are. 77 popped up when I did a Google search of life expectancy for males in the U.S. but that seems a bit on the low end for my taste! I would like to live as long as I can continue contributing and am not dependent on something or someone for basic functions. I have quite a few things I still hope to accomplish along with hopefully getting to know grandkids and great-grandkids maybe.
Thanks for the mention, Matthew. It is quite an honor to be mentioned in such a list of fine writers.
I'm currently reading a book I think you might like, Arnold Schwarzenegger's BE USEFUL. It is, as the title suggests, useful but also quite interesting.
I would read a variety of books. Choose some because you recognize the author, others because the content would be challenging, some recommended by people who know you, and some just because you like something about the cover. Book clubs are also a great way to explore a variety of books you may not have considered. C.S. Lewis believed that re-reading the Western canon was vitally important, and I might add that looking at canonical books of the East and the African continent would only add depth to your choices.
Stephanie - thanks for reading and sharing your ideas. I really appreciate it. I have a copy of Harold Bloom's book "The Western Canon" sitting on my desk and am looking to incorporate that into my reading plan. All your recommendations are great and I have used each of those at different times. I will acknowledge that my reading of Eastern and African literature has been somewhat limited but I am working on rectifying that.
Thanks so much for this kind mention of my Gwen Raverat article, Matthew. Reading about Raverat's at times difficult life, and her insistence throughout on the value of creative work, inspires me and demonstrates the value of good biography and memoir writing. I will be very interested to see how your own reading programme progresses through 2024, and hugely admire your championing of the value of books and libraries in leading a good life.
Ann - I have really enjoyed your writing and I am glad to share it with my readers. I am particularly keen to explore good memoir and biography as I continue to find my way in the writing realm.
Amazing post, Matthew. Really excited for you as you transition into this new stage in your life and grow into the best version of yourself. I think your lack of credentials in literature is actually an asset for your readers. Sometimes when looking at classics, the average person may be intimidated by those more entrenched in academia and need some encouragement from a fellow "lay person" who loves literature to dip their toes in. You're doing great work here!
Tiffany - Your support and encouragement is sincerely appreciated. I am grateful we discovered one another here and look forward to continuing to build our friendship around a shared love of writing, literature, and life. Thanks for the vote of confidence in me as a "lay person" sharing my passion here.
Matthew, Each time I read one of your posts, I grow as a person myself. I've always known there was a hunger for more within you, and I am grateful to be able to observe this growth. Mom
Mom - thanks so much for reading and supporting my work. I owe you and Dad a huge debt of gratitude. I am loving this new writing adventure and glad you are able to walk alongside me in it.
All good wishes for your retirement. You sound like a person who will adjust well. You can volunteer to keep active and help people. Seems that you have lived a life of benefit to humanity. Not all of us can say that. But not all of us have the right gifts. The books I am currently reading are a mystery story about an inheritance " The Death of Mrs Westaway" by Ruth Ware. I feel an affiliation with this story as I am bound up in a long winded family inheritance case,it's like Jarndyce v Jarndyce in the Dickens novel. And my involvement is involuntary,just due to being born to who I was. The other book is "Rome" by Matthew Neale and I am going to get Apocalypse How? by Oliver Letwin. I've just heard of this book and having checked,despite being a Tory he seems alright. Strange but true.
Jane - thanks for reading and for your kind words. I think some volunteer work is right up my alley so we will see what we can find along those lines. Sounds like you have a decent lineup of books right now. I enjoy a good mystery from time to time although history and biography tend to be more my focus at the moment.
Great post. Happy retirement Matthew, it seems to me you are going into it with the best frame of mind.
On feeling under qualified to write about literature: I do feel passionately that literature and reading is a democracy, not a closed-off silo of closeted critics and scholars. Books are owned by readers, and if you read them you have a pass to talk and write about them. Whether anyone wants to listen is another matter! But that's why I say reading is democratic.
Simon - thank you and appreciate the support and kind words. Glad to be a part of the growing literary community here and excited to see where it goes.
Congrats on your retirement, and best of luck with slipping back into civilian life. I am a military brat married to a military man who is nearing retirement. Thank you for these beautiful thoughts on becoming the best version of yourself and spending wisely the time you have left, it gives me food for thought.
A lovely, thoughtful, and reflective piece, Matthew. I particularly liked this: "What we feed our minds is just as or more important than what we feed our bodies...We become the books we read, the movies we watch, the music we listen to, and the conversations we engage in."
At the beginning of January, I attended an online "word of the year" workshop, which suggests coming up with a word to live your year by, rather than making new year's resolutions. I came up with "Nourish", seeking to engage in ideas and activities that nourish the mind and body. Your piece further resonated with this idea for me; nourishing myself with better content, books, people, will all help to contribute towards a better, more fulfilled version of myself. Thank you for reinforcing these ideas 😀
Kate - thank you for the kind words and for your support and encouragement. It has meant so much. I am happy that this article resonated with you. I love that word - Nourish. It is such a wholesome and healthy way to look at life. Here's to a wonderful year of nourishing our minds and bodies!
Inspiring personal note here! I can't help but notice we have very similar wishes on how to live, how to grow and what to give back to our communities. Sounds like we're tribe buddies 😉
My husband and I were just talking about notions of "retirement" last night over dinner. We're in our early fifties with kids in college, so we're not there yet. But having visited my mom in her memory care facility earlier in the day, my husband was thinking about the narrow window between "retirement age" and that other hard stop of illness and infirmity. His sense was of how short those years could feel between, say, 65 and 80? 85? 78? Who knows, really. "That's a long time to work for not a lot of retirement." But as we talked I started thinking about that fact that retirement is in some ways a state of mind. We are already retired from the work of day to day parenting of children, which has opened up a sense of flexibility and spontaneity we haven't had since our kids were born. While we still cherish our kids and stay involved in their lives (we had a riotously funny FaceTime with them both yesterday), we have our time and self-determination back. That is a kind of retirement, and an opportunity to engage in the community as volunteers, spend more time at the gym, take a class. When college bills are over in a few years, we'll have a bit more wiggle room to travel. Yet another new phase. I think we both found it comforting to consider that the phases of life, and the chance to recommit to an ethos of how we want to live, are not black and white, all or nothing, now or never, working or retired. I think your idea of hiring a coach to help you take stock and make a plan is a grand one. Particularly since your transition is likely more stark than some due to your long military service. I think intentionality is key - your planning with a coach, our recognition and celebration of many stages. Wishing you a very happy and satisfying next stage.
Tara - sincere gratitude for reading and your heartfelt response. This is the type of engagement I am always hoping for when I write.
It is interesting this word retirement. I am retiring from the military but I am only 46 so not a traditional retirement age. Most people in a similar situation go straight back to work at a civilian job. For some it is financial driven, for others they don't want to be bored, etc...
I am not sure yet what that looks like for me. It would be pretty easy to go right back to work but I am not sure that is what I want. We will have my pension, my wife works full time, and we have a few investments. We also live a fairly simple and frugal lifestyle. We are fortunate that our son is going to college on scholarship. So I don't feel pressured to go right back into the work force which is a great thing. It gives me that latitude to figure things out. If I can turn this writing thing into a full time gig that would be ok, right?
I do think it is so important to take stock of each season of our life and assess what works best for this particular time. It isn't always going to be the same throughout the years and it won't be the same for everyone. I think your husband is thinking along the right lines when he says it is a long time to work for a short retirement. So we have to be on the lookout how we can make the most of where we currently are.
All the best to you and your husband in this particular season. Enjoy each other, the "kids", and what this season holds.
Thank you for your service, Matthew. I am in awe of the dedication and commitment it takes to pursue a career in the military and protect our country. I see that you are applying that same dedication to what comes next. I applaud your commitment to championing civil discourse, and I look forward to seeing where it leads you.
Thanks for the mention, Matthew! I'm very encouraged. :) And thank you for your years of service to our country!
I majored in English and have spent a handful of years having quintessential English major discussions about motifs, dramatic tension, the whole gamut, but none of that talk, regardless of how intellectually stimulating, has any lasting, real-life impact because it exists solely for academic purposes. Your newsletter on the other hand helps people to see the connection between what they read and how they live their lives. It challenges us to be more conscientious in our reading choices by highlighting what's at stake when we pick up a book. Getting to contemplate literature together outside the purely academic realm is one reason why I chose to follow your newsletter. I look forward to what else you have in store for us in 2024. :)
Thank you Macy, I sincerely appreciate the kind words and vote of confidence. Your description of my writing is exactly the goal that I have for this space so I am grateful it is having an impact. I have a feeling it is going to be a good year.
You already are your best self, my friend. It's so clear in how you articulate your emotions, share your life and goals, and interact with the community you're building here. As for your worthiness, I know plenty of people with fancy degrees who don't hold a candle to the insights you are sharing on here about what you read and experience. I'm enjoying your journey, and hope that you are as well.
Matthew,
Your post gave me a lot to think about. I'm almost 62, and I have seen changes in my own inner and outer life that I wonder whether a blueprint at one age differs from a blueprint at a later age, ir are there themes and threads that are consistent?
As for reading, I could be more intentional. I've started this year with a heavy dose of reading (all fiction) and now if I'm without a book I really love, I feel bereft. I just finished Howards End. i read it a number of years ago, but this time, for lack of a better phrase, I "got it," and it made a deep impression on me.
As for how many books, are left to you or to me, I'm at the age when i have an increasing confirmation bias in believing that medical breakthroughs will prolong healthy living. So, 77 appears to me now as a milestone somewhere in the middle of the road to come. Perhaps wishful thinking, but why not?
David - thanks for reading. I am curious about the same thing regarding the blueprint. I know I am not the same person I was at 20 but are there core parts of me that have remained consistent and will continue to do so throughout my life? I am not entirely sure but the experience of discovery is pretty fascinating.
I hope that you are right regarding how many years we have left. I think you probably are. 77 popped up when I did a Google search of life expectancy for males in the U.S. but that seems a bit on the low end for my taste! I would like to live as long as I can continue contributing and am not dependent on something or someone for basic functions. I have quite a few things I still hope to accomplish along with hopefully getting to know grandkids and great-grandkids maybe.
Thanks for the mention, Matthew. It is quite an honor to be mentioned in such a list of fine writers.
I'm currently reading a book I think you might like, Arnold Schwarzenegger's BE USEFUL. It is, as the title suggests, useful but also quite interesting.
Kent - I appreciate the book recommendation. I have not read it so will definitely check it out. All the best!
So thoughtfully written. A joy to read. And thank you for all the substack recommendations :-)
Anne - I appreciate the kind words and thanks for reading. I truly appreciate it.
I would read a variety of books. Choose some because you recognize the author, others because the content would be challenging, some recommended by people who know you, and some just because you like something about the cover. Book clubs are also a great way to explore a variety of books you may not have considered. C.S. Lewis believed that re-reading the Western canon was vitally important, and I might add that looking at canonical books of the East and the African continent would only add depth to your choices.
Stephanie - thanks for reading and sharing your ideas. I really appreciate it. I have a copy of Harold Bloom's book "The Western Canon" sitting on my desk and am looking to incorporate that into my reading plan. All your recommendations are great and I have used each of those at different times. I will acknowledge that my reading of Eastern and African literature has been somewhat limited but I am working on rectifying that.
Thanks so much for this kind mention of my Gwen Raverat article, Matthew. Reading about Raverat's at times difficult life, and her insistence throughout on the value of creative work, inspires me and demonstrates the value of good biography and memoir writing. I will be very interested to see how your own reading programme progresses through 2024, and hugely admire your championing of the value of books and libraries in leading a good life.
Ann - I have really enjoyed your writing and I am glad to share it with my readers. I am particularly keen to explore good memoir and biography as I continue to find my way in the writing realm.
Amazing post, Matthew. Really excited for you as you transition into this new stage in your life and grow into the best version of yourself. I think your lack of credentials in literature is actually an asset for your readers. Sometimes when looking at classics, the average person may be intimidated by those more entrenched in academia and need some encouragement from a fellow "lay person" who loves literature to dip their toes in. You're doing great work here!
Tiffany - Your support and encouragement is sincerely appreciated. I am grateful we discovered one another here and look forward to continuing to build our friendship around a shared love of writing, literature, and life. Thanks for the vote of confidence in me as a "lay person" sharing my passion here.
Matthew, Each time I read one of your posts, I grow as a person myself. I've always known there was a hunger for more within you, and I am grateful to be able to observe this growth. Mom
Mom - thanks so much for reading and supporting my work. I owe you and Dad a huge debt of gratitude. I am loving this new writing adventure and glad you are able to walk alongside me in it.
All good wishes for your retirement. You sound like a person who will adjust well. You can volunteer to keep active and help people. Seems that you have lived a life of benefit to humanity. Not all of us can say that. But not all of us have the right gifts. The books I am currently reading are a mystery story about an inheritance " The Death of Mrs Westaway" by Ruth Ware. I feel an affiliation with this story as I am bound up in a long winded family inheritance case,it's like Jarndyce v Jarndyce in the Dickens novel. And my involvement is involuntary,just due to being born to who I was. The other book is "Rome" by Matthew Neale and I am going to get Apocalypse How? by Oliver Letwin. I've just heard of this book and having checked,despite being a Tory he seems alright. Strange but true.
Jane - thanks for reading and for your kind words. I think some volunteer work is right up my alley so we will see what we can find along those lines. Sounds like you have a decent lineup of books right now. I enjoy a good mystery from time to time although history and biography tend to be more my focus at the moment.
Great post. Happy retirement Matthew, it seems to me you are going into it with the best frame of mind.
On feeling under qualified to write about literature: I do feel passionately that literature and reading is a democracy, not a closed-off silo of closeted critics and scholars. Books are owned by readers, and if you read them you have a pass to talk and write about them. Whether anyone wants to listen is another matter! But that's why I say reading is democratic.
And I for one am glad you are here!
Simon - thank you and appreciate the support and kind words. Glad to be a part of the growing literary community here and excited to see where it goes.
Congrats on your retirement, and best of luck with slipping back into civilian life. I am a military brat married to a military man who is nearing retirement. Thank you for these beautiful thoughts on becoming the best version of yourself and spending wisely the time you have left, it gives me food for thought.
A lovely, thoughtful, and reflective piece, Matthew. I particularly liked this: "What we feed our minds is just as or more important than what we feed our bodies...We become the books we read, the movies we watch, the music we listen to, and the conversations we engage in."
At the beginning of January, I attended an online "word of the year" workshop, which suggests coming up with a word to live your year by, rather than making new year's resolutions. I came up with "Nourish", seeking to engage in ideas and activities that nourish the mind and body. Your piece further resonated with this idea for me; nourishing myself with better content, books, people, will all help to contribute towards a better, more fulfilled version of myself. Thank you for reinforcing these ideas 😀
Kate - thank you for the kind words and for your support and encouragement. It has meant so much. I am happy that this article resonated with you. I love that word - Nourish. It is such a wholesome and healthy way to look at life. Here's to a wonderful year of nourishing our minds and bodies!
Inspiring personal note here! I can't help but notice we have very similar wishes on how to live, how to grow and what to give back to our communities. Sounds like we're tribe buddies 😉
I appreciate the kind words Monica. Glad to connect here with you and others of my tribe!
My husband and I were just talking about notions of "retirement" last night over dinner. We're in our early fifties with kids in college, so we're not there yet. But having visited my mom in her memory care facility earlier in the day, my husband was thinking about the narrow window between "retirement age" and that other hard stop of illness and infirmity. His sense was of how short those years could feel between, say, 65 and 80? 85? 78? Who knows, really. "That's a long time to work for not a lot of retirement." But as we talked I started thinking about that fact that retirement is in some ways a state of mind. We are already retired from the work of day to day parenting of children, which has opened up a sense of flexibility and spontaneity we haven't had since our kids were born. While we still cherish our kids and stay involved in their lives (we had a riotously funny FaceTime with them both yesterday), we have our time and self-determination back. That is a kind of retirement, and an opportunity to engage in the community as volunteers, spend more time at the gym, take a class. When college bills are over in a few years, we'll have a bit more wiggle room to travel. Yet another new phase. I think we both found it comforting to consider that the phases of life, and the chance to recommit to an ethos of how we want to live, are not black and white, all or nothing, now or never, working or retired. I think your idea of hiring a coach to help you take stock and make a plan is a grand one. Particularly since your transition is likely more stark than some due to your long military service. I think intentionality is key - your planning with a coach, our recognition and celebration of many stages. Wishing you a very happy and satisfying next stage.
Tara - sincere gratitude for reading and your heartfelt response. This is the type of engagement I am always hoping for when I write.
It is interesting this word retirement. I am retiring from the military but I am only 46 so not a traditional retirement age. Most people in a similar situation go straight back to work at a civilian job. For some it is financial driven, for others they don't want to be bored, etc...
I am not sure yet what that looks like for me. It would be pretty easy to go right back to work but I am not sure that is what I want. We will have my pension, my wife works full time, and we have a few investments. We also live a fairly simple and frugal lifestyle. We are fortunate that our son is going to college on scholarship. So I don't feel pressured to go right back into the work force which is a great thing. It gives me that latitude to figure things out. If I can turn this writing thing into a full time gig that would be ok, right?
I do think it is so important to take stock of each season of our life and assess what works best for this particular time. It isn't always going to be the same throughout the years and it won't be the same for everyone. I think your husband is thinking along the right lines when he says it is a long time to work for a short retirement. So we have to be on the lookout how we can make the most of where we currently are.
All the best to you and your husband in this particular season. Enjoy each other, the "kids", and what this season holds.
Thank you for your service, Matthew. I am in awe of the dedication and commitment it takes to pursue a career in the military and protect our country. I see that you are applying that same dedication to what comes next. I applaud your commitment to championing civil discourse, and I look forward to seeing where it leads you.
Liz - thank you for the kind words. I am excited for the adventure ahead. The newness of it is refreshing at this stage of my life. All the best!
Thanks for the mention, Matthew! I'm very encouraged. :) And thank you for your years of service to our country!
I majored in English and have spent a handful of years having quintessential English major discussions about motifs, dramatic tension, the whole gamut, but none of that talk, regardless of how intellectually stimulating, has any lasting, real-life impact because it exists solely for academic purposes. Your newsletter on the other hand helps people to see the connection between what they read and how they live their lives. It challenges us to be more conscientious in our reading choices by highlighting what's at stake when we pick up a book. Getting to contemplate literature together outside the purely academic realm is one reason why I chose to follow your newsletter. I look forward to what else you have in store for us in 2024. :)
Thank you Macy, I sincerely appreciate the kind words and vote of confidence. Your description of my writing is exactly the goal that I have for this space so I am grateful it is having an impact. I have a feeling it is going to be a good year.
You already are your best self, my friend. It's so clear in how you articulate your emotions, share your life and goals, and interact with the community you're building here. As for your worthiness, I know plenty of people with fancy degrees who don't hold a candle to the insights you are sharing on here about what you read and experience. I'm enjoying your journey, and hope that you are as well.
Thanks Troy. Greatly appreciated and glad to have you along for the ride!