Retirement

Retirement is a strange word for me.

- PINKY CONCHA COLMENARES

I’ve been working even before I finished college. After graduation, I dove into journalism. For about half a century — 44 years with Manila Bulletin and many years as editor of a provincial daily— journalism was not just my profession, it was my clock, my compass, my daily contact with the world. Deadlines measured my days. Everything else— my children’s birthday celebrations, vacations, school events — revolved around these.And now, I am stepping away.

In truth, I feel like separating from an identity. I have spent more waking hours in the Manila Bulletin newsroom than in my own house. I know the rhythm of editorial meetings better than the rhythm of my neighborhood. I remember special days commemorating a health, political or education issue, yet forget my children’s Parents’ Day, Holy Retreat, or School Fair.

And so there is anxiety. Not over the contents of my pages, but over my relevance. Journalism is a profession that feeds on relevance. Every day asks: What matters now? Who needs to know? Why should anyone care? For decades, I lived inside those questions. My byline was proof of presence. The sections I edited, the latest was the opinion-editorial section, documented how people were absorbing and reacting to the news.