Creatively Aging » creativity

Defining Moments

creativeaging — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:13:42 +0000

In preparing for an upcoming health fair (where I’m to help represent creative aging) I’ve been thinking about Heinz ketchup. It’s been made for more than 130 years and yet it’s advertised daily. Wouldn’t you think they’d think we know about it by now? Well, Heinz is probably right. It’s necessary constantly to introduce yourself, your purpose and products, to the marketplace.

So ketchup puts a different slant on creative aging. It’s not just figuring out how to say what it is and why one should care, it’s necessary to do this constantly and consistently, briefly and noticeably. But how? Especially in a culture that seems to contain skepticism about creativity itself.

Can We Create an Earthquake?

creativeaging — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:09:09 +0000

Last week I enjoyed a telephone conversation so much I felt I gained a phone friend. And it’s with the very special Lauren Volkmer of ARTZ (Artists for Alzheimer’s). In this rambling introduction to ourselves we used and then repeated various images to agree that there is something very special happening around creativity and aging and creativity and dementia; it has to be a phenomenom of earthshaking proportions. So many wonderful people are working in so many wonderful ways that have deep connections – and Lauren and I agreed we were part of this. But is it a tidal wave or an earthquake? But does it matter as long as it keeps happening?

But the tidal wave seemed to flow through this week’s newspapers here in Greensboro, North Carolina. The first was Monday in that voicebox of capitalism, The Wall Street Journal. There was an article on pyscho-oncology which piqued my interest: “A New View, After Diagnosis“. It is about making life meaningful in the face of fear, in the face of mortality. And from what I read, being creative is, for many people, part of what helps. In my book, creative living in the face of cancer is creative aging at its best.

Another whisper of making meaning is the ad for a set of lectures by James Hollis, Jungian Analyst and Author. He’ll be here at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant Friday July 17th and Saturday July 18th for Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life and What Matters Most. I haven’t found a description of these programs but I’ve already fallen in love with their titles.

The next piece that reverberates for me is in Meet the Artist in GoTriad section of The News & Record. It’s on Robert ‘Bob’ Postma and he is a living and breathing tidal wave of…creativity, creative aging, community creation, and everything of great meaning. I’ve got to meet this man!

Gardening, a creative way

creativeaging — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:54:37 +0000

Came up to Washington DC yesterday to attend the National Center on Creative Aging’s sure-to-be-exciting conference. Arriving the day before allows some part of Washington’s own creative scene to be enjoyed. On a spring day made my way to the U.S. Botanic Garden, always a refreshing spot. One of the many areas to be savored was a collection of photographs entitled Places for the Spirit: Traditional African Americans Gardens of the South. Vaughn Sills has done us all a wonderful favor by sharing these creative and traditional gardens. This is creativity in one of its most important forms: yes it is something new and something that has value but it is also created purposefully by someone for themselves.

The important question

creativeaging — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:48:06 +0000

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!

creativeaging — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:13:47 +0000

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!

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