Our adherence to the term heritage rather than culture shows the low priority we award as a society to creativity. Both the Heritage Secretary and her shadow would rather, as far as I can tell, be doing something else. Every time I mention the bogey word "culture" to British politicians they just switch off. They blush and change the subject. And yet it has a critical role in the post-industrial society, and Britain is exceptionally well placed to reap the social and economic benefits of a thriving and vibrant culture.

Today, the average working person does a 37-hour week and many organisations, from Hewlett Packard to VW and Italian Steel, are looking to reduce that further to 31 hours. Most of us can expect to suffer un- or under-employment at some stage, as the number of industrial jobs has been halved since the war, and of those of us lucky enough to be in work, barely more than 50 per cent are in full-time posts.

For my grand-daughter the shift towards leisure will be even more pronounced. With medical know-how and general health improving all the time, it is quite possible that she will live to more than 100. And - assuming she'll have a job in the first place, and that she takes statutory retirement - that means she could be retired for almost 50 years.

How do you begin to fill the time? How do you make my grand-daughter, in retirement, feel useful? How do you convince her that she has a purpose, or involve her in valuable activity? Not, for one thing, by the sort of solutions that politicians of both parties are offering. They confront this gargantuan dilemma with platitudes. They give us such pious words as "the moral imperative of keeping your family together" and "work is good for you."

I believe that the way forward is one in which we begin to value culture. An unpopular word in this country, as we've seen. But I think of the term as meaning everything that encourages imagination, the use of our brain - education, knowledge, participation, above all wisdom, all wrapped into one.

Decide what it is you want to do, and how important it is to you, and then determine if you are sufficiently motivated to carry it through to its conclusion. You cannot get this knowledge from others - you must decide for yourself. We are often, however, not sure what is really important to us, so we think making a list is a good idea. An even better idea .... is to make a colour Mind Map of your priorities. Map out all the things that interest you and then rate them in terms of how important they are to you.

You may, for instance, decide that you want to increase your income and thus concentrate on finding a new job, or on becoming better rewarded for the one that you do. Alternatively, you may decide that the most important thing for you is to enjoy your holidays more, so you may learn a new language or explore a foreign culture, which would have the by-product of being mentally stimulating.

The possibilities are endless and will, of course, differ from person to person, but the key factor is motivation. If you are motivated enough to do what you want to do, then everything else will fall into place. People who are not motivated are unfocused and unable to concentrate their energies effectively.

Successful achievement does not materialise out of nothing - it requires planning, plus a tremendous amount of hard work. Admiration for your peers and a desire to emulate them is another important factor. Many artistic careers are fashioned along the following logical lines: "I want to become a great artist. X and Y are great artists whose work I admire. I will, therefore, study the lives of X and Y and try to emulate them." Machiavelli talks about the importance of emulation in his book The Prince. If you are inspired, you copy and then surpass. If you aren't inspired, then you can't achieve anything. Cynicism is the enemy of genius.

"For those of advancing years (a description preferable to 'growing old'), the essential thing is to maintain a proper balance between the upside and the downside of this process. The upside - a pension or (with luck) pensions, reduced rail fares, being offered a seat on a crowded tube train should be accepted with enthusiasm. The downside - Western Society's bland assumption that one is over the hill - should be rejected with passion.

The optimal course of action, then, is to take full advantage of the benefits in order to offset, and ultimately destroy, the over-the-hill image. For example, even a small pension can enable one to be that much more selective about the work one does - so a consultancy or part-time job, with reasonably flexible hours and, above all, affording one the opportunity to do what one really wants to do, becomes entirely feasible.

Cheaper rail travel, too, might enter into the equation, permitting one to base one's second (or third or fourth) career at a location that might otherwise be economically inaccessible. In short, turn the advancing years to your advantage, and thus secure for yourself a full, happier lifestyle than you have ever known before."

Issue 3: Contents | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8