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Discovering the Golden Years |
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This is the first sunrise of the New Millennium.
Blog ItWhy do people have web logs on the
Internet? And is there an communications outlet opportunity for retirees
and those planning to retire in the near future. I think the answer is yes.
Human beings have an innate desire to communicate. They have a natural
desire to express their ideas, opinions and beliefs. And the Internet
provides this opportunity easily and efficiently. The most casual visitor
to the Internet is impresses with the diversity, multiplicity and intensity
of the information available on the Internet. This content is primarily the
result of individuals taking the time and effort to post information that
they feel might be valuable to others. Google any subject, I challenge
anyone to find a subject that is not addressed. There are people out there
waiting to communicate with you. Your kindred spirits maybe. Perhaps others
just like you looking to plan out their retirement. In the specific area of Retirement
the blog can provide a mechanism for sharing information and solving the
problems of planning for and implementing our retirements. The baby boomers
are about to retire, over 3000 of them become 60 years old every day. They
need to communicate their concerns, they need to make connections with
their peers and they need to evolve political advocacy groups to defend
their incomes and their retirement benefits. Politics is diversifying. It
can become much more democratic where everyone with Internet Service can
weigh in on issues and work to build influence the outcome of events. Any
of us can live out loud on the web; it is unfettered self expression. This is engaged democracy, it can be an
end run around the power structure that attempts to control information. It
also is boundless, you are communicating to the world. I personally
contacted a group of Germans who had lived in a “colony” in Hungary. This
is where my maternal grandfather came from and I was able to talk to some
distance relatives and neighbors who are still trying to hold this
community together. I was able
though these contacts to learn about my ancestors. Choose any topic and
google that topic and the word blogs to make a first contact. Blogs can also supply the
opportunity for retirees to deal with personal feelings. Many of us really
fear the idea ending several decades of getting up and going to work every
day and making the transition into the unknown world of retirement. We know
who we are we are identified by our professions and our companies and
products. When we leave that we lose our identity. We become nobodies. Or
worse yet we become has-beens. We need a way to express out feelings. We
need to yell out to the widest possible audience. We need a relief valve
for our excess steam. One thing that helped me phase out of my job was to
create a Space Science and Technology Web Page. I kept up with the news in
areas that I had worked in and had time for the first time to editorialize
on the future course of the commercialization of space technology. Blogs can also provide us a way to
continue to make contributions to our professions. They can help us pursue
new hobbies or life long activities. They can help us celebrate our
families, in my case the development of grand children. I’ve created a
system of web pages that capture in photographs his life and development. I
never had either the available time or the facility to do this with my children.
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