For years, work gave you an easy answer to “What’s new?” You had people you saw every day, problems you were helping solve, and stories that practically told themselves.

Now your days may look different. You might be enjoying parts of retirement and still find yourself searching for an answer when the attention turns your way.

That can bring up a painful question: Do people still want to hear about my life if I’m not working?

Of course they do. But it may take a while for both you and the people around you to learn how to have these conversations in a new way.