Think & Discuss – Personal Identity During Retirement
Think & Discuss is a book club meetup at Fortnight Brewery on December 15, 2026, starting at 4:00 PM, with an open conversation about personal identity during retirement. This session is even less structured than usual, and the retirement theme is offered only to get talk going if it is needed. The suggested reading is the Investopedia article "From CEO to Volunteer: Reinventing Your Purpose in Retirement."
The organiser lists some AI-assisted prompts:
- How to answer "So, what do you do?" without a job title
- What provides purpose and self worth before retirement, and what could take its place
- Whether purpose is found or built on purpose
- Which of volunteering, mentoring, hobbies, faith, family and creative pursuits truly stand in for a work identity, and which feel empty
- Lessons from earlier reinventions, such as a career change, a move or a major life event
- Building and keeping social circles before and during retirement
- How identity shifts within a marriage or family when there is more shared time and different daily routines
- "Keeping busy" compared with "living with purpose"
- Questioning or changing beliefs about yourself
- Making sure this chapter of life is well spent
The group keeps a Google Sheet of past, present and future books and topics, plus a Google Doc describing upcoming meetings. Both are tentative until an event is scheduled, because suggestions are taken during meetings. The club alternates between books on history or current events and books of practical how-to advice, and it endorses no particular idea. It aims for the back-right room of the main indoor seating area (enter from the front door facing Maynard Road) and takes a nearby table if the room is busy. Joining partway through a discussion is fine, as is attending without finishing the reading, and listening on Audible is welcome.