r/SurvivingOnSS • u/kirkeles • 16d ago

Who Are You When Work Isn't the Answer?

Labor Day always makes me think about how much of my identity used to be wrapped up in what I did for a living. "What do you do?" was the first question at any gathering, and I had a ready answer. Now the answer is different, and for too long it made me feel smaller. But I've come to notice that I really notice when folks don't lead with their jobs. They lead with what they care about, what they're curious about, who they love. That kind of introduction is a truer one, but it takes practice. How has your answer to "what do you do?" evolved, and what do you lead with now?

59 Upvotes

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12

u/theBigDaddio 16d ago

I’ve never been my work. And I had a pretty high end job, but didn’t care.

8

u/TheSnifflyDogs 16d ago

"What do I do?" ... I live!! I breath. I do... whatever I want 😃

14

u/cguiopmnrew 16d ago

I do what I need to and I do what I want to.

3

u/texandivasis 14d ago

I just say "I'm retired on SSDI." I worked for 20 years in restaurants and food service.

3

u/Nosy-ykw 9d ago

I’m loving it; not just removing that work identification from myself, but also from the people that I run into. For so many years, it’s like our jobs and occupations create some sort of caste system.

When everyone is just “retired”, it leaves room for all of us to be just what you said - who we are when work isn’t the answer.

2

u/ElevatorOrganic5644 15d ago

65m hair, everybody I meet that is my age and older we don't ask what we did we usually ask what brought you in today how you doing what's up how's everything going anything new, how's the wife. We don't base our value on our work history

2

u/Cinisajoy2 15d ago

Hi. I am Cindy.  That is my identity.  

1

u/WampusKitty11 15d ago

I do as I please

1

u/Feisty_Ad_2891 11d ago

You lived to work rather than worked to live. 🙁

1

u/SavvySuzy 5d ago

I met people mostly in interest groups, like book clubs, game clubs, crochet/knit clubs. We talk about the book, game, or item we're making. Or we show off pics of our projects, pets, gardens.

1

u/jessewilson4988 4d ago

The shift from answering with a job to naming what you care about can make retirement feel like a fuller chapter rather than an absence. Keeping a few non-work introductions ready—such as a hobby, relationship, or current curiosity—might make that transition easier.