Another voice
I can’t quite imagine the thoughts and feelings of Charles Darwin when he learned of a rival’s simultaneous articulation of the origin of species by natural selection. Reasonable scholars have identified it as ‘dawning horror’. For me, discoering that others write the same things I think is the opposite. I see something more akin to burgeoning satisfaction. I felt that when I tripped over Jan Greenberg’s post Writing, Creativity and Aging on the blog I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids).
Jan writes of her own challenges to write for young adults as she is aging and how considering how others have aged creatively (great artists are always great company) has solidified her resolve to do the same. What worked? She mentions a new subject, a new discipline, and a new view (in this case of the world). Interesting, yes; inspiring, absolutely!
It’s the work
Recently I attended a meeting in which the presenter said (and I paraphrase) the best thing is to keep the work, the purpose, in the center of everything you do. It was one of those ”ah-ha” moment…I work hard to keep creativity and aging at the center of what I do…yet maybe I do that to the exclusion of reflecting and sharing it. Maybe returning to this blog after such a period of silence can bring me back to a better balance. Because balance is best.
The important question
The neatly dressed woman stood quietly, waiting patiently, until almost all the other glad-handers had gone. I’d just finished a breezily-entertaining (and I hope enlightening) presentation on brain fitness and we all had enjoyed ourselves. She approached and I turned. She asked the important question: “How do we get people to try?” Try painting, she said, because painting was the greatest mental challenge she’d ever had and ever enjoyed. But if we can’t get people to try then they’ll never be able to succeed.
Great question. And I have valid fragments of an answer but no truth. How do we get people to try? Try something new. Try something challenging. Try something hard. How?
Road Trip!
Tomorrow we travel to Washington, D. C. to attend the Open House for the National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA). The special guests are impressive: Dr. Gene Cohen, Maria Genne, Anthony Hyatt, and Stuart Kandell. There will be storytelling, drama, music, poetry and visuals to celebrate the new home of the NCCA. The Center will be partnering with the George Washington University’s Center on Aging, Health & Humanities. Dr. Jean Johnson, senior associate dean for GW’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences said “This is one of the most exciting partnerships. [It] will impact how we teach and think about aging, reaching beyond the GW Medical Center and extending to the national and global communities.”
This is exciting for us because we are the creative aging network for North Carolina! Our communities will benefit from the development of programs based on the research results coming from this partnership. We’ll let you know how the trip goes and what we learn!
To learn more about the Center for Creative Aging-North Carolina (CCA-NC) go to www.cca-nc.org and check us out!
We want to hear from you!
Myths About Age, Art and Genius?
David Galenson writes that “many innovations spring not from their creators’ innate talent, but from their years of accumulated knowledge” (in “5 Myths about Art, Age and Genius”). That makes Galenson an advocate of creative aging in many ways since he contrasts, favorably I might add, the work of young geniuses and old masters. It seems he is thinking along the lines of Gene Cohen and his definition of creativity:
Creative Expression=(Mass of Knowledge)(Internal Life Experience*External Life Experience)
And for those of us who don’t remember algebra, Cohen explains:
When we look at all the elements and influences regarding creativity, what seems to matter most are sufficient knowledge or mastery of an area; motivation and perspiration or the willingness to do; some intangible that are part of the human condition, such as intuition and insight; and the capacity to be inspired (The Creative Age, page 38).
So Galenson’s comment “keep that in mind when you head to an art museum” may be true in even more ways than he knows.
The community and me
Went to a dynamite conference this week on the power of art to address social and community problems. Great presenters brought our attention to many different ways art can make people change. But two thoughts kept ringing in my head: I don’t believe aging, especially creative aging, is a problem. If so, why I am sitting there spell-bound, exhilarated, and exhausted? Am I there because our society, our community sees aging as a problem? Possibly. Am I there because I believe in the power of art? Definitely. But then the second question chimes in: if art is so powerful, what is creativity? Is creativity as powerful? Or is creativity as a label a cop-out by those (including myself) who are uncomfortable with the social pressure, the judging seemingly inherent, in art.
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