There was a time when our lives were divided into three separate boxes labelled: school, work and retirement. We moved, in an orderly fashion, from one box to the other and once we had left one box, there was no turning back.

This is no longer the case. The walls are coming down and many of us are blending together school, work and retirement.

A colleague of mine who just got back from vacation is a case in point. She had spent a week at the Haliburton School of The Arts (haliburtonschoolofthearts.ca) in an intensive class for those learning to play the folk guitar. While Judith has played the guitar for all of her adult life, she had not taken any instruction. This was an opportunity to ramp up her skills.

As well, she said, it's a way to get fresh ideas and hang around with people who share your interest. And if you're a complete beginner, five days is just enough time to get a good feel for a subject and decide if this is something that you would like to pursue in greater depth.

I was intrigued by Judith's experience. I dropped into the school while I was vacationing in nearby Muskoka with Patty, my significant other. We timed our visit for a Thursday afternoon when visitors and students have the opportunity to do a "walk about" to see what everyone's been up to during the week. We saw mostly middle-aged students, happily engaged in a surprisingly wide array of activities, such as watercolour painting, wire sculpture, glass blowing, quilting, decoy carving, iron sculpture and musical-instrument construction.

Shelley Schell, the school's training officer, told me that the majority of their mature students are between the ages of 45 and 65. Most have a bit more time on their hands and a little more disposable income and they're taking the opportunity to nurture themselves and focus on their own personal growth and development. In some cases, students have been through a major life event such as an illness or the death of a spouse, and an involvement in the arts gives them a chance to take a step back and heal.

But it's not just the creative opportunities that's getting us back into the classroom. Other mature students will be returning to school this September to upgrade their skills. Pat MacDonald, who is the dean of Continuing Education at Mohawk College (mohawkcollege.ca), based in Hamilton, says that while Mohawk offers a lot of the fun courses - everything from digital photography to belly dancing - it also has a wide selection of business courses. Older students are signing up for courses such as leadership training, accounting and computing.

Still other students have an eye on a second career. Patty, my aforementioned significant other, is a case in point. Looking for new challenges in her late 40s, she decided to return to Sheridan College (sheridaninstitute.ca) to obtain a certificate in interior decorating. With only a few courses left to complete, she is looking forward to a second career that will satisfy her lifelong interest in art and design.

Looking for a creative outlet, upgrading your skills or launching a second career? Maybe a little classroom time is in your future.

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DID YOU KNOW?

More and more aging boomers are choosing to continue to work longer than was the trend even a decade ago.

In Canada, the Special Senate Committee on Aging reported earlier this year that the average age of retirement fell gradually from a high of 65.1 in 1977 to a low of 60.9 in 1998 but since then, "there has been a steady increase in the labour-force participation and employment rates of seniors."

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Gerald Bramm is a researcher, writer and speaker on topics related to our aging population. He can be reached at gbramm@graymattersresearch.com