Health & Aging | Community Experience
Updated from the original publication on July 10, 2025.
The transition to retirement marks a major life milestone, one often met with excitement, relief, and, for some, uncertainty. After years of structured routines, careers and family responsibilities, it’s natural to pause and ask, “What now?”
This question is a natural response to stepping away from the roles and routines that have defined daily life for so long. The truth is, retirement isn’t an ending, it’s a new beginning brimming with opportunities for growth, discovery, and fulfillment.
For many older adults, a Life Plan community provides the perfect environment to explore these opportunities in a supportive, engaging setting.
Redefining Success and Identity in Retirement
Before retirement, many people have spent decades with their identity being closely tied to what they do: profession, achievements, family duties and daily responsibilities. Purpose in retirement looks different for everyone, but a continued sense of purpose is essential for healthy aging. Research consistently shows that having a sense of purpose can lead to lower risks of depression, heart disease and memory decline.
The challenge many retirees face involves shifting from a career- or family-defined identity to discovering who they are beyond those roles. This transition requires moving away from traditional measures of success – productivity, titles, salaries, achievements – toward a deeper understanding of what matters: passion, impact and connection.
Questions to Redefine Success and Purpose in Retirement
If you’re exploring what purpose means for you in your next journey, consider these guiding questions:
- What activities make me lose track of time?
- Who or what do I feel deeply connected to?
- What legacy do I want to leave behind?
Your answers may surprise you … and open the door to a retirement filled with meaning.
Common Ways Seniors Discover Purpose in Retirement
One of the greatest gifts of retirement is the freedom to explore interests and activities that may have been set aside during the previous decades. Purpose can be found in countless ways: through service, learning, creativity, personal growth and relationships.
Community Service and Volunteer Work in Retirement
Few activities provide as strong a sense of purpose as giving back to the community. Volunteer work in retirement creates a meaningful impact for both the community and the volunteers themselves. It provides structure, social connection and a deep satisfaction that comes from making a difference.
In many retirement communities, residents contribute their time and talent both within the community and in the broader area. Whether it’s mentoring local students, supporting food banks, participating in environmental conservation efforts or helping fellow residents, these activities demonstrate how retirees can continue contributing meaningfully while building their own sense of purpose.
Opportunities for Lifelong Learning in Retirement
The desire to learn doesn’t fade with age, and neither does the power of intellectual engagement. Lifelong learning keeps the mind sharp, curiosity alive and conversations stimulating.
Senior living communities recognize this thirst for knowledge and offer countless opportunities for discovery, including:
- Formal classes
- Workshops
- Book clubs
- Guest Speakers
- Discussion Groups
- Learning Partnerships with Local Institutions
Many campuses take advantage of in-house experts living right on campus. Former teachers, professors, business professionals, historians, scientists and more provide lectures and classes for their peers.
At Cathedral Village, the Village College was founded in 1998 by passionate retired teachers. The program offers classes on traditional subjects without the burdens of writing papers, earning grades, or doing excessive homework.
Subjects include religion, folklore, literature, and even ecology, thanks to the nearby creek and historical mills. Village College offers a less formal approach than with traditional college lectures, creating an engaging and interactive learning environment for seniors. Of the 300 residents at Cathedral Village, about 120 attend classes each semester.
Exploring art history, understanding current events or delving into genealogy, this simple act of learning creates purpose through growth and discovery.
The Benefits of Creative Activities for Seniors
For many, retirement provides a long-awaited time to rekindle creative passions or discover entirely new ones.
Creative activities provide emotional outlets for processing life experiences, deliver mental stimulation that supports brain health and generate the personal satisfaction that comes from creating something meaningful.
For Lois, a resident at Pine Run Village, Doylestown, creativity and artistic inspiration came at the bottom of a wood scrape bin!
"I was visiting [my husband] in the wood shop and looked in the trash can and there were these most beautiful pieces of wood.
I said, 'Can I have these?' And a year later I was using them in some of my pictures."
Perhaps even more importantly, sharing creative work with others builds community and connection. Art shows, writing groups, music ensembles and craft circles create opportunities for residents to bond over shared interests while celebrating each other’s talents.
Whatever the form – painting, music, writing or crafting – creativity feeds the soul in ways that purely practical activities cannot.
Spiritual Growth and Reflection
Many retirees find themselves drawn to deeper questions of meaning during this stage of life, and many residents use this time to explore spirituality.
Life Plan communities support this spiritual journey through chapel services, interfaith discussions and resident-led spiritual studies and discussions. This exploration doesn’t require religious affiliation: it can encompass any practice that helps individuals connect with something greater than themselves and find meaning in their life experiences.
For example, at Glen Meadows, Glen Arm, MD, Chaplain Ron oversees a wide range of spiritual services and activities, from Bible studies to ecumenical worship services. His approach is open and inclusive, designed to meet residents where they are in their faith journey. “We have a mix of people here—some lifelong churchgoers and some who have never been to a Bible study,” he explains. His goal is to make everyone feel welcome and provide meaningful opportunities for spiritual growth.
Building Relationships and Community
Human connection is at the heart of purposeful living. Relationships – old and new – play a vital role in maintaining well-being and creating a sense of belonging.
Strong social connections contribute not only to a sense of purpose but also to longevity and overall well-being. Purpose emerges naturally through connections: forming new friendships, supporting fellow residents, joining committees and participating in community activities.
Perhaps more importantly, meaningful friendships serve as powerful medicine against two of the most common challenges facing seniors: loneliness and depression.
Serena L., a resident at Westminster Village, Dover, DE, agrees:
"Moving here was the best decision I have made," she said. "I left the isolation of a large home to be part of a welcoming community where I have made so many friends and an active, rich life."
Life Plan communities excel at facilitating these connections through organized activities, shared dining experiences, interest-based clubs and collaborative projects. Through these relationships, residents discover the joy of being needed, valued and connected to others.
How a Life Plan Community Supports Purposeful Living
Life Plan communities are designed to support all dimensions of wellness: physical, social, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. This makes them superb environments for finding purpose.
At PSL, this translates into our Thrive Wellness program which provides a culture of wellness, engagement, and purposeful living. This is not a calendar of activities. It’s a culture that encourages everyone to live, and experience life along the dimensions of wellness and purposeful living.
Residents gain countless opportunities to lead, teach, organize, learn and grow. The amenities and programs reflect this. Art studios provide space for creative expression, libraries support learning and discussion, chaplaincy services nurture spiritual growth and volunteer partnerships create opportunities for meaningful service. These resources work together to create an environment where purposeful living isn’t just possible – it’s actively encouraged and supported.
Embracing Your Purposeful Retirement Journey.
Retirement isn’t an end. It’s a new beginning: an opportunity to thrive, grow and live with purpose. But finding purpose in retirement isn’t a one-time event. It’s an ongoing, evolving experience and you don’t have to navigate it alone. PSL Life Plan communities are designed to support and encourage purposeful living every step of the way. We provide the resources, opportunities and community connections that make meaningful retirement possible.
The next step in your journey awaits. The question isn’t whether meaningful retirement is possible. The question is what form your purposeful living will take.
We invite you to explore what a purposeful retirement could look like for you by exploring our communities, their locations, programs and opportunities.
