I wrote two stories today. Not 300-word quickies, not 1,500 word deep-dives. Somewhere in between. It wouldn’t be a big deal but in a few weeks I’ll be celebrating seven years since I swiped my badge to releasing me from then-Fiat Chrysler into the free air of retirement.

Just the other day, when I mentioned to someone I had a fairly full schedule of interviews and meetings related to my two freelance gigs, the person asked, “why, why still work so hard if you’re retired?”

The answer is so easy. First of all, it’s never work to me. Writing is recreation to me. Has been since I was a kid. Second, and this is the big one, because every time I interview someone I learn something. There’s little more satisfying, besides indulging in a giant anything from Cold Stone Creamery, than speaking with a young entrepreneur, or technology whiz who came up with a brilliant idea, had the guts to take it further, build a business, create something that will improve a process or our lives.

I’ve always said journalism is the ticket to a free education, and, someone will also pay you while you learn!

I manage my time so I’m never putting in the hours of an actual working stiff—just enough to keep my brain filled with new stuff and fodder for the handful of Forbes.com stories I file each month. I do a little consulting for Franco PR—an absolutely joyous opportunity to work with a bright, creative, fun and adventurous staff that also yearns to learn and puts up with an old war horse’s war stories.

Yup, I have plenty of time to kayak, play a little ice hockey, bang on my drums and make lots of noise with my collection of electric guitars on that big, new Fender amp I just bought.

So if there’s such a thing as the seven-year itch during retirement, it’s the itch to keep my gray matter, mattering, even as my graying hair thins and falls. Who cares? As long as there’s something under my noggin’ that’s working, I don’t care what used to be on top of it.