When Paul Hentschel retired in October 2016, he wasn’t just planning on vacationing and relaxing. No, instead he set off on a 3 year journey to reset his life and find happiness and a sense of purpose in his retirement. As he journeyed through the United States, Western Canada, Jamaica and South Africa, he sought after a new place to live and more importantly a new tribe of people to surround himself with. Slowly it became clear that helping others, developing his creative self and belonging to a community were the intangible qualities of life that would provide true happiness.

 

Even from a young age, Hentschel had been interested in the arts, and even threw his mother for a loop when he chose to major in Commerce at Queen’s University. Later in life, his daughter expressed her concern of affording an apartment if she was an artist. His undeniable love of the arts and of the artistic people in his life encouraged him to meet artists everywhere he went. He spoke with them about their struggles and he knew artists needed help.

 

Hentschel made his career in the business world of Bay Street in Toronto. However he was disillusioned by the hedonic treadmill that seemed to rule the lives of his coworkers. For those unfamiliar, hedonic adaptation is the tendency we have to get used to things. We are in constant need of new material items to satisfy us after we get bored of the things we already have. In addition he was frustrated with the seemingly universal need to cultivate an image, and the restriction and anxiety that comes with trying to fit in. 

 

However, he sees the true freedom in retirement. When you are retired, you can choose what you want to do, and choose who you want to be. So he liberated a part of himself by creating an alternate artistic persona. Amassed from an old nickname, an anecdote he heard on the radio and input from a young artist in Kelowna, he formed a name and printed his first business cards. “Reggie Flaneur. Artpreneur. No Fixed Address.” 

 

Joseph Cambell said: “People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive”.

 

These are the words that motivated Hentschel as he examined the concept of how to truly help artists.