Tag Archives: identity

My Vocation is not my Job

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Bob Ritzema

I recently wrote about one thing that has changed for me since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic; I’ve been less interested in writing blog posts. I’ve been thinking about other changes that have taken place. One of these has … Continue reading →

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Forgetting and Identity

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Bob Ritzema

I recently re-read Falling Upward, Richard Rohr’s book describing the differences between spirituality in the first and second half of life. Some of the things that I hadn’t paid much attention to when I first read the book six years … Continue reading →

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The Older I Get, The More Versions Of Me There Are

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Bob Ritzema

Rachel McAlpine, who blogs at Write Into Life, recently posted about the challenge of adjusting her identity as she ages. She writes, “I’ve been searching for an inherent personal coherence, consonance, or harmony. But this is not straightforward, because right … Continue reading →

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Getting Ready to Retire: Finding Yourself

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Bob Ritzema

Next Avenue recently published an article by Bart Astor, a writer specializing in life transitions, titled “When will you be ready to call it quits?” After talking to numerous retirees, Astor concluded that the following factors played into their decisions … Continue reading →

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Identity, Purpose, and Belonging in Retirement

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Bob Ritzema

Older workers preparing for retirement (or those, like me, part way through the process)  deal not only with logistics and practical questions, but also with questions regarding how to live our lives. Three sets of issues that retirees face–issues of … Continue reading →

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Conversing With Dementia

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Bob Ritzema

I recently read a Next Avenue interview with Jonathan Kozol, author of the memoir The Theft of Memory: Losing my Father One Day at a Time. Jonathan’s father Harry, a psychiatrist and neurologist, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his late 80s … Continue reading →

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Simplification of Status

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Bob Ritzema

This is part of a series of posts on simplification in late adulthood. For some context on the concept of simplification, consult a previous post in the series. In this post I’ll focus on simplification of status, especially on the way theologian Lewis Joseph … Continue reading →

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Becoming A Practicing Psychologist: How I Now View It

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Bob Ritzema

This post is a follow-up to one I wrote earlier about a transition during my early 30s—leaving my budding career as a college professor to work as a clinical psychologist in the Michigan prison system. I thought of this as a midlife transition. … Continue reading →

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In case you’re wondering if you live on ….

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Originally posted on All those days that came and went …:
Dear Mom, In case you’re wondering how, or even if, you live on in our lives — I wanted to reassure you that the seeds you so carefully sowed all…

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