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Retirement Reimagined
176 Plays3 days ago
Lynn Katz is a retired school principal, curriculum writer, and educator who has reinvented herself as a fiction author in retirement. With a deep passion for storytelling, Lynn now writes both adult and middle-grade fiction, bringing her years of experience working with children and school systems into the heart of her stories.
She lives in Connecticut with her husband and enjoys kayaking, hiking, and spending time with her grandchildren. Her writing touches on themes of family, emotional resilience, school systems, personal transformation, and the challenges and magic of growing up.
Key Topics:
- Transitioning from leadership in education to creative writing
- The role of personal growth after retirement
- Navigating identity shifts when leaving a high-responsibility role
- Staying engaged with purpose and community through writing
- The unexpected parallels between running a school and writing a novel
- Giving yourself permission to try and fail at things
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Transcript
The Dullness of Leisurely Retirement
00:00:03
Speaker
Retirement. That's what we're all aiming at, right? But exactly what does that mean? conjures up visions of endless days of golf, drinks with little umbrellas in them on a tropical beach, feet up reading a book.
00:00:16
Speaker
Is that what it's all about? I don't think so. Life would get pretty dull after a while without anything meaningful to do, don't you think?
Exploring Meaningful Retirement with Jackie Doucette
00:00:25
Speaker
I'm Jackie Doucette, and I'm on a mission to discover exactly what life is like beyond retirement.
00:00:30
Speaker
Join me while I chat with people who've already done it, who've retired to something rather than from something. Let's find out together exactly what's waiting for us when we say goodbye to that nine to five.
Introduction to Lynn Katz: A Multifaceted Retiree
00:00:51
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Beyond Retirement. This is your host, Jackie Doucette. And today I'm really thrilled to have Lynn Katz with me. Lynn is a retired school principal. She's an author and she's a board of education member in her in the town where she lives. I was going to say hometown might not be. Lynn, welcome to the show.
00:01:10
Speaker
Thank you so much, Jackie. It's great to be here. So I understand that as a writer, you have to get your ideas, your inspiration from a lot of things. I'm going to kind of jump right in. I think that from your decades of experience in education and in leadership, you have lots of experience to draw on.
Why Lynn Katz Chose to Retire
00:01:36
Speaker
And I know that personal growth is one of the themes for me today and personal growth is something that you are interested in So I'd like to start with kind of a ah um multifaceted question, I think, but what made you decide to retire? Because your journey from educator to author, you know, it it it kind of was a path on its own,
00:02:02
Speaker
Yeah, um that's a good question because I really struggled with the decision as to when to retire. um i I guess I could say as an educator in the United States, we get a pension. And so you work a certain number of years, you you can access a pension that I could live on. So that's, of course, there's the financial impact.
00:02:25
Speaker
consideration. and i And I felt I was doing a good job as a school principal, but I had no time. As you can imagine, it's a 24-7 job. I'd go home, eat dinner, go back on my computer, answer emails. And as much as I loved it, I wanted to do other things.
00:02:46
Speaker
In fact, when I announced to my faculty that I was planning on retiring, there was kind of this, are you sick? do You know, what's going on? You know, because I was still young. I was 61 at the time, but I said, no, I just, there are other things I want to do. And I have the energy and the, and I want the time to do them. So that's, that was to answer your first part of your question.
From Principal to Author: Lynn's Writing Journey
00:03:11
Speaker
I'm not sure I understand. Is the second part of your question, how I get my ideas to write novels or In part, what what drew you from being a teacher to being a writer? Okay.
00:03:23
Speaker
i think Well, I always loved writing creatively. I wrote a newsletter as a principal and I wrote poems and, you know, I just always enjoyed the writing process. And I have a friend who published a book. he He's got like seven or eight books already now. and And I remember going to a book launch party of his and he said, and i these words will stay with me forever.
00:03:48
Speaker
If I can write a book, you can write a book. You know, I wanted to write a book, so I wrote book. And I thought, oh God, me? Could I write a book? it But he gave me he gave me the and you know the confidence to to basically say, why not? Why shouldn't I write a book? Whether I publish it or not doesn't matter. It's just about, do I have some ideas? Do I want to pursue those ideas?
00:04:13
Speaker
And is there a book inside of me And i discovered there's more than one book inside of me as a matter of fact.
00:04:21
Speaker
And now, so those books that are inside you, the ones that that I know about that have been written are fiction. Yes. Do you draw on your experiences with your students, your your fellow faculty? What's what's your inspiration?
00:04:39
Speaker
Yes, yes, and yes. um ah first The first published book, It's called the surrogate. And that was based on um a tragedy that happened near my school at the time I was where I was um the principal. And I know and you've heard of Sandy Hook and um it was a tragedy. It was. a massacre of 20 children and six adults by a young man in an elementary school, came in with guns to an elementary school and killed these innocent people. And i I've been wrestling since that day, many years ago, with how could this happen? Why didn't the schools stop him? What could a teacher have done?
00:05:24
Speaker
And so that was the premise of my book. And I really kind of explored that. i did some research about um Mostly boys who choose to do terrible things like that. and And that was the premise of my book. What if, what if the killer had met a really nurturing teacher at age 16?
00:05:48
Speaker
And could she have made a difference? So that was that was the first book that I, it it was inside me. i had to I had to write it and I wrote it. And ah after that, I went back to my happy safe place, which is writing for children. And that's I write for middle grade so that my next book, Chester and the Magic 8-Ball, is, you know, it's for eight to 12-year-olds. And other books that I've written are also for young kids.
00:06:18
Speaker
Wow. It must have been a... a hard book to write, not just during the Magic 8-Ball. It probably was fun to write, but the surrogate. i imagine Yeah, it was hard. I think I've been told it's hard to read also, but it's also a thriller, so there are a lot of twists and turns in it. And it it didn't end the way I expected it to end, um but I'm not going to ruin it for you in case you decide to read it.
The Active and Creative Retirement Lifestyle
00:06:44
Speaker
but Now, a lot of people think when they retire, especially if they were busy and their job was kind of all-consuming like your job was as a principal, that retirement is going to be a time to ease back, settle down, maybe do a little bit less. It doesn't sound like you're really doing a whole lot less. Has retirement turned out to be what you thought it would be?
00:07:10
Speaker
I'd say it's much better. And I am doing less because, you know, i i you can't even imagine the life of a school principal. It's just i i was on putting out fires um every single second of every day, weekends, everything. Now i wake up when my body says it's time to wake up.
00:07:33
Speaker
I have a leisurely cup of coffee. I talk with my sister every morning. we have i have breakfast. And then I settle in to my day. It's just a very different pace where I can think deeply and create and exercise more. you know go i walk almost every day outside. My husband and often goes with me. We hike in the woods.
00:07:56
Speaker
um i've We love to travel. So there's just so much more freedom to My day is filled, but not to the brim and not and it doesn't interfere with time to read. Sometimes I read in the middle of the day and I think, oh I don't have to wait for me to be exhausted in bed at 11 o'clock at night when I can only read three pages, you know?
00:08:21
Speaker
um So I know it sounds like I'm busy, and i'm but I'm busy enough pursuing things that are interesting to me. That sounds like the definition of retirement for me. It's having the time to do the things you want to do when you want to do them.
00:08:42
Speaker
And the energy, the creative energy to to to do that, right? Yes. yeah Yeah. There's no point in having the time if you just are laying flat on your back.
00:08:53
Speaker
Right, right. So one of my previous guests had commented that after she retired, she had a lot of trouble with schedules because her life was a schedule. She got up at a certain time, logged into her computer, did her lunch at a certain time, did everything. And I assume that the life of a principal also runs on a very tight schedule.
00:09:18
Speaker
How did going to no schedule affect you? Well, it was the summer. So I retired, it was the end of June, you know beginning of July. And it was easier in the summer because I was planning a wedding and I was traveling to China for another wedding. and And I just, I didn't, I was fine. I was fine without a schedule. I felt like I was just on a summer vacation, a very long summer vacation. So I think it didn't hit me until September.
00:09:48
Speaker
And when I started to write, I gave myself a goal and that goal was a certain number. It was a thousand words a day. So even though I didn't schedule when I was going to write those thousand words, I knew i had to fit that in. I had to fit in a thousand words a day in between my walk and my errands and whatever else I wanted to do. So I think having a goal instead of a schedule helped me manage my time, if that makes sense.
00:10:20
Speaker
Sure, it does completely. Because a goal is something you work on when you can fit it in, as opposed to a schedule, which is something that messes up your day, usually.
00:10:32
Speaker
no it can. Schedule can really mess up your day. And your husband, your husband is retired as well? He retired almost two years ago. So I was, and I retired 10 years ago. so I had many years with him working and i kind of liked that. So I, not that now that he's retired, we spend more time together, but he knows that I have these other important ah aspects of my life, which pushes him to find other aspects of his life. So I think it's, it's it was kind of fun to be retired alone in the house all day. I love that.
00:11:15
Speaker
when you When you first retired and and you were alone and you started to work out your day, did you have a plan in your mind for what you thought it was going to be? And has that evolved into something different?
00:11:31
Speaker
ah Well, i I think I did. I think I started with, okay, exercise in the morning, exercise classes. I was taking exercise classes at a local gym and then come back and write and then have lunch. And then do area. So I think I was a little more regimented and it's evolved to be more, i have a list of what I want to accomplish every day, but it's not nine o'clock do this, 10 o'clock do that.
00:12:00
Speaker
It's so much more relaxing to do with my way now, the way it's evolved. Cause I trust myself. I trust that I will accomplish my goals. I don't need to force it into my schedule.
00:12:15
Speaker
I like that. time Yeah. Yeah.
Unexpected Political Career on the Board of Education
00:12:18
Speaker
that I like that idea that you're not trying to force anything to happen. It just happens or it doesn't. Is there anything about how your retirement has unfolded that surprised you?
00:12:34
Speaker
I never, ever expected to run for Board of Ed for office. But this is my second term. I just i just was reelected on Tuesday. So I'm really happy about that. So- Congratulations.
00:12:49
Speaker
Thank you. So over four years ago, i so i ran because I became aware of and locally, the people who are running against me on the other side of the aisle here um had an agenda that was very different from my agenda. And I felt I have all this knowledge about education,
00:13:09
Speaker
Why not? There was an opening. friend of mine said, you should run. and I did. i never thought I'd ever in a million years run a campaign. And I won. I did well. And I've enjoyed the past four years. So I thought, OK, one term will be enough. And then the same thing happened with group of people who seemed to have an a very narrow agenda that had included book banning.
00:13:35
Speaker
So I decided, you know, i i can do this for more years. So I did. I ran again. But I never, ever anticipated that I would do this.
00:13:48
Speaker
It's something that probably wouldn't have happened had you continued to work because you wouldn't have had the time to devote to it. No, and and I can't imagine a board of ed wants, you know, anybody wants to hire a principal in another district, you know, for the no.
00:14:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:07
Speaker
What advice would you give to someone who's considering retiring doesn't really have a plan, but it's just kind of wondering what's going to come next?
00:14:19
Speaker
i I hesitate to give advice because I think everybody is so different. For example, I know I've read in so many publications and I'm sure you've heard a hundred times, it's so important to have a goal, so important to know how you're gonna use your day. what What are your plans? Don't just retire and then figure it out.
00:14:39
Speaker
Well, I retired and I figured it out, but i knew I knew that there were things I wanted to explore. I didn't have a specific plan. As I said, I you know i had a house to clean and i actually sewed pillow covers. I mean, I started to to to do random things like plan my son's wedding, that kind of thing.
00:15:03
Speaker
So... even though all the books will tell you, you must make sure you're ready, you know you've planned your retirement, um that's not for everybody. Some people just need the time and space to figure it out and to give yourself that luxury and not feel on day one or even day 101 that you have to have it all figured out. Be open to the possibilities. That's my advice.
00:15:33
Speaker
I hope it's good. sound Yeah, I think that sounds reasonable because we are different. And some people jump into retirement and right away they're busy all the time and they're doing things and they yeah wonder how they ever fit in work.
00:15:46
Speaker
And other people sit and kind of twiddle their thumbs and they don't know why they quit work. That's right. And those people can get a different job or volunteer or figure it out. and And if they don't figure it out, it makes me sad, but they need to get help figuring it out, right?
00:16:08
Speaker
Ultimately, yes. that's and that that's why that's why I'm here, to help people figure it out.
Revisiting Dreams and Embracing New Possibilities
00:16:17
Speaker
Figure out. Listen to podcasts like yours and talk to people like you um will help you.
00:16:25
Speaker
What do you think? And I'm not looking for it any kind of answer, good or bad. what what What do you think about the idea of someone thinking about their childhood when they're trying to decide what to do in retirement in terms of what they enjoy doing or what they what they might want to do.
00:16:49
Speaker
I'd never thought of it, but I love that. I love it. it but I remember an old high school friend of mine when she found out that I had published my first book through Facebook and she reached out to me and she said, you always dreamed of writing a book. I have no memory.
00:17:07
Speaker
I have no memory of wanting to be an author when I was a kid. But isn't that interesting? Yeah, why not? Things that you had to give up whether you were a child or even an adult you know with responsibilities.
00:17:21
Speaker
that's a I never thought of it, but I think that's really a good concept, something to think about. i was I always ask people that when they come to me and say, I can't retire, what am I gonna do? It's, well, what did you wanna do that you never got a chance for? you know a lot of people push it down so far, they can't remember what they wanted to do. And like you, it's like, wow, I wanted to be an author, who knew?
00:17:46
Speaker
Well, maybe it was subconsciously and that's why I started writing. And then she reminded me, yeah, you want her to be an author. I didn't, I didn't remember that, but my subconscious remembered it.
00:17:58
Speaker
How do you stay open and creative or open to creativity and changes in ideas and that sort of thing as, as your life changes? Um,
00:18:12
Speaker
Well, I'm thinking about writing. And i just last week, first of all, I have a blog. I i keep a blog and a newsletter and a website up to date. And last week for six days, I went to Pennsylvania for a writing conference slash workshop slash retreat to revise another manuscript of mine.
00:18:34
Speaker
And I think what I'm saying with this is that you have to keep learning. And when you're stuck, or even if you're not stuck to keep learning, take a class, take a course, um look at your local universities. i took an abstract painting class. and I'm not a painter, you know, ah collage, let just because I want to tap into other aspects of my creativity.
00:19:02
Speaker
And yeah I think learning Continuing to be open to learning new things. i tried I even tried knitting. Guess what? I can't knit. I tried, but at least I tried.
00:19:14
Speaker
i I didn't do a good job. Move on to the next thing. But be open to trying different things. I like that. I think that's important. the Give it a shot.
00:19:25
Speaker
You don't have to be good at everything you try. You can you can say, hey, yep, not for me. Not for me. I'll go buy my next scarf, right? and Find someone who knows how to knit. Yes.
Lynn Katz's Current Projects and Future Plans
00:19:40
Speaker
So what are you doing now? what's What's next on your agenda that's kind of keeping you excited? but Well, on Tuesday, I'm having a hip replacement. Oh, yay.
00:19:53
Speaker
Yay. um So I'm excited about getting that behind me. And I'm revising a manuscript ah that will probably take up a couple of months of intense writing work. Oh, and one more thing. and I joined a group of women and we play the ukulele and we are called the ukulele and we meet once a week and it's so much fun. I'm not a professional musician, but that's just, it's another thing that just makes me happy. It's social, it's fun, it's musical.
00:20:28
Speaker
And um nothing brand new is in the horizon. Just getting better at what I love. that sounds great. And and and getting a new hip.
00:20:41
Speaker
That's something brand new. Yes, it is.
00:20:46
Speaker
Is there anything that you would like to say to the people who are listening today about about changing their life, about having retirement, about anything at all?
00:21:01
Speaker
If not, that's okay. I think I've said everything that's on my mind. i i My daughter said that i have I've nailed retirement. And I think she's right. I feel good about it. um it It can be such a wonderful time in your life.
00:21:18
Speaker
And don't be afraid. Don't be afraid that you'll flail. It's okay. It's okay to flail a little bit. It's okay to search. It's an opportunity to really look inward And at the world around you, there's so much to to appreciate, to do. Go walk in the woods. You will figure it out.
00:21:40
Speaker
Nice. I think your daughter's right. You've definitely nailed it If people want to look you up or get in touch with see you, how can they do that? Well, you can go on my website. Oh, my God. it link Just write And through my website, you can read my you can click on my newsletter, read about my books, read a little bit more about me.
00:22:14
Speaker
um and um And that's it. That's it. And contact me, reach out, email me. I'm happy to listen to what you're worried about in terms of retirement. I love to talk to people.
00:22:26
Speaker
And I'm definitely a pro-retirement person. I'm an advocate. ah Excellent. Lynn, thanks so so much for being with me today. I really enjoyed it.
00:22:38
Speaker
I have to, Jackie. Thank you so much. And thank you for doing what you do. There's a real need, more and more, I think. There's a need for people like you who want to help. Thanks.
00:22:50
Speaker
And that's it for this episode of Beyond Retirement. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. I hope you enjoyed it. To check out the video interviews, please go to my YouTube channel at bit.ly forward slash beyond retirement. That's B-I-T dot L-Y forward slash beyond retirement. Be sure to subscribe so you won't miss any new episodes.