WHAT'S A FORMER corporate mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer from the turbulent takeovers of the 1980s doing today with a Canon digital camera slung around his neck? Read on.
I was a senior partner at the high-profile New York law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom until I retired in 1996, eight years before the mandatory retirement date. The reasons I retired young essentially boiled down to these: I was no longer getting a kick out of my work. I had the financial wherewithal to give up a lucrative career in corporate law. And there were other things that I really wanted to devote a lot more time to. In my view, these reasons provided a good rationale for voluntary retirement.
Once I turned in my briefcase, I developed a theory about what is necessary for a rewarding retirement for those who leave behind challenging careers. Travel, sports, reading and other pursuits may be desirable, but for maximum fulfillment, I believe you need to become immersed in at least one activity with the following characteristics:
n It should be something you can do primarily by yourself, without the need of a supporting cast. That's because you'll have a lot more time to yourself once you retire.
n It involves a skill that will require some effort on your part in order to become proficient--one that you will continually seek to improve.
n It produces something you can view with pride and show off to others.
I admit I've gone a little overboard; I'm engaged in three such activities. It's almost as if the intuitive right side of my brain--kept in check by its logical lefty counterpart during all those hectic years doing deals--cast off its shackles and came out bellowing, 'Hey, pay attention to me!'
So I've sought out various creative pursuits. I play jazz piano, both solo and with my trio, and record CDs. Most satisfying of all, I play for weekly singalongs at several senior-citizen centers. In addition, I've just written my first work of fiction. It's a book of 22 short stories about lawyers, drawing on my past experience.
But the most fertile field for me has been photography, which I took up in earnest after I retired. Since then, I've had a half-dozen exhibitions of my work, and two books of my photos have been published. The most recent book is called Slices of the Big Apple, A Photographic Tour of the Streets of New York (Fordham University Press, $22).
Photography is a splendid individual activity. It requires some skill, but there's always room for improvement, and you can share your work with others. Besides shooting, you can learn to edit your photos on the computer (today's digital darkroom).
Some financial outlay is involved, but it won't break the bank the way a yacht or a country club membership might. Cameras are so good today that moderately priced equipment is all you need. To underscore that, my books each contain one colorful shot taken with a $9 disposable camera.
Every year, I supply disposable cameras to groups of students from an inner-city high school and lead them on an instructional tour of Central Park, in New York City. I have their best shots enlarged and then award a prize to the winner.
The worlds of work and retirement are miles apart, but there is a common thread between my prior life and this one. As a lawyer, I searched amid the dross for the crucial element that made my case or sealed the deal. Similarly, the key to taking quality photos isseeing the picture. Invariably, a photograph is limited compared with what the eye takes in. It's cropped to emphasize relationships between people and objects, and zooms in on shapes and forms or the interplay of light and shadow.
So, if you're like me and have kept your creative juices under wraps while pursuing a demanding career, now's the time to cut loose.
Before retiring, James Freund advised companies such as Dun & Bradstreet, General Reinsurance and Prudential Securities.
