246 Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan
job or through volunteering. Community organizations are designing volunteer
positions which resonate with the needs of this generation seeking to make a
difference in the world around them. Some authors believe that we are seeing a
new “we generation,” led by the generation inspired by John F. Kennedy to ask
what they could do for their country (M. Stone & Stone, 2004, p. 55).The Process of Change: Coping With the Transition Process
Schlossberg (2004) describes three important phases of the retirement process
that she encourages adults to pursue. The first phase is “moving out” that
involves the task of “letting go of your work role.” The way to move through
this phase is to grieve. Some adults choose to deny this grief process as exem-
plified by a newly retired director of an organization who decided to stay on at
her organization as a volunteer. This client could not let go and tried to “micro-
manage the activities of her replacement” (Schlossberg, 2004, p. 23). In order to
“move on” workers need to acknowledge any regrets they have about leaving
their position and grieve for the relinquished work (Schlossberg, 2004). The
adult at this phase of life needs to recognize the loss and express emotions and
thoughts about it prior to taking on a new task.
It is significant that the yearning and searching phase of the grief pro-
cess described by Bowlby (1998) in his study of widows is documented
by Schlossberg (2004) in her work with clients who are working through the
second phase of the retirement process, “moving through.” This transitional
phase occurs after adults have left their major activity and before they have
found something new that absorbs them. It is in this phase that adults search
for a new way to organize their lives (Schlossberg, 2004). This can be an uncom-
fortable phase because adults are unsure of their path, but Schlossberg advises
adults to label this period as “your retirement moratorium” so that one can
suspend decisions and allow oneself to explore many options (Schlossberg,
2004, p. 24). Transitions involve time to allow one’s emotions and reactions to
shift, occasionally elated and other times depressed. These shifts may be more
intense for those for whom more of their roles, relationships, routines, and
assumptions are altered. The final stage is called “moving in” and occurs when
the adult begins to create a new life by adopting new activities, roles, routines,
and relationships (Schlossberg, 2004).
In identifying possible pursuits and activities for this time, Corbett (2007)
refers to (a) employment-related options, such as consulting, entrepreneur-
ship, and board directorships; (b) community service and giving back options,
such as civic and nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and the international
arena; (c) passing on knowledge through coaching, mentoring or advising,
teaching, writing, speaking, and continuing education; and (d) other pursuits
including involvement in hobbies and avocations, fine arts and performing
arts, fitness and sports, real estate and travel. The possibilities are endless for
a match between an adult and community work that is generative in nature.
One of the gifts of maturity and release from full-time work is an awakened
sense of responsibility symbolic of the midlife task of generativity.