Creativity in Everyday Life

IT STARTS WITH YOU

by Gene D. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D.

The quest to cheat time—extend life and enhance our bodies, our brains, and our sex lives—has been the driver of fortune as well as folly throughout history and in every culture. Today’s antiaging wonder cures have their roots in a culture of denial that reaches back to the beginning of recorded history. In primitive societies recommendations for altering aging included recipes using the internal organs of young animals, with the idea that the new youthful viscera would impart renewed vigor to the patient’s own aging parts. Ancient Hindu antiaging strategies touted the ingestion of tiger gonads—testicles—as a cure for impotence. The early Greeks endorsed similar efforts, such as eating the bone marrow of lions to gain courage. During the early part of the twentieth century, the flamboyant Russian-born surgeon Serge Voronoff updated the ancient practice of eating animal gonads for virility and modernized it by grafting monkey testicles to older humans in attempts to restore youth and vitality to the men. In the 1960s the Cryonics Society promoted the notion of freezing people immediately upon their death or, if legally permissible, just before they died, to preserve them for a later time when medical breakthroughs might offer them renewed health and longevity. And in the decades since, the search for the “fountain of youth” has taken gullible consumers through a wide assortment of remedies, from herbs to hormones.

            Despite hope and hype, these “magic bullets” for extending life or reversing the effects of aging have all proven to be nothing more than blanks. There is no miracle product you can buy to cheat time or alter your age. There is, however, one proven, scientific way to alter the effects of aging and boost the quality of your life as you get older. That “miracle product” is your innate capacity for creativity, your ability to think a new thought and to act on it.

            Whatever your age and whatever your circumstances whatever your talents or skills, your dreams and desires, whatever you see as your limitations, creative expression can boost your energy and outlook, improve your relationships, and help you get more out of every day. You can do any of the following activities at any time and in any order, and gain new insight and energy from each experience. If possible, use a designated notebook or file folder to save a paper trail of your thoughts and ideas. From time to time, review that paper trail, and I assure you that you’ll find new paths to explore.

Let’s get started!

Define Your Desires, Recognize Your Resources

Jump-start your creative energy by thinking about your interests and desires, and recognize that you have untapped additional inner resources—different kinds of creative energy—that will support your efforts.  By doing this, you begin to position yourself in a take-charge role that enhances the way you feel about yourself and energizes you for exploring new directions.

Do you want to build upon what you have done before, and bring it to a higher level?

This is continuing creativity, a recharging process that knows no endpoint with aging, and one that will remind you of the depth of your potential and your capacity to access it.

      Reexamine what you have done in what has been your primary area of interest in accomplishment. Ask yourself, What are the next steps for growth? What remains unfinished?

      Talk to others who are doing related things; learn from their experiences.

       Look for new ideas. Explore books or popular magazines relating to your interest. Surf the internet for resources, contacts, and conversation.

       Look around you for inspiration. Tune in to the growing numbers of people your age or older who are actively engaged in new or challenging endeavors. You don’t have to “measure up” to them, but only join their ranks through your own journey of enrichment and self-discovery.

Do you want to change direction, either still drawing upon what you already know or moving into a very different direction?

This is the energy of changing creativity. It provides a wonderful opportunity to discover new aspects of yourself.

        Identify strengths you have that are underdeveloped, or interests you have long set aside.

        Explore a new pursuit just as you might experiment with a new recipe or travel to a different vacation spot.

        Empower yourself. Have confidence that you are capable of learning and growing.

        Others are doing it. You can, too!

Do you feel that you haven’t done anything particularly creative, but now’s the time to start?

Tap your capacity for commencing creativity.

       Ask yourself, “ If not now, when? “ And go for it—now!

        Visualize the beauty of “late bloomers” in the garden and see your own Potential as ready to flower.

        Cultivate connections to the world of ideas and action. Look upon every conversation, movie, book, stroll—every ordinary experience—as a bridge to new opportunities for thought and action along a path of self-discovery.

Do you wish you could join others in a meaningful or simply enjoyable project or activity?

This is collaborative creativity guaranteed to provide built-in encouragement and community. Sharing ideas and experience expands the creative potential of any moment in a special way, with rewarding social context and the satisfaction of contributing your ideas and energy to others.

       Enlist friends to share in a new activity, enriching your history together and opening the doors to new interests.

        Volunteer for a special project underway in your community or workplace as a way to meet new people and broaden your experience.

Does your circle of friends include those younger and older than you?

Broaden your exposure to new ideas with intergenerational creativity.

        Invite intergenerational diversity into your life. Look at older and younger people as a source of lively friendships and fresh, varied perspectives.

       Strengthen your family relationships by spending time actively involved with your children and/or grandchildren, or older members of your family, and their friends.

Are you looking for a sense of inner peace, purpose, and satisfaction?

You can enhance your inner life through personal creativity, or “creativity with a little c.”

        Reflect on the significance of the unremarkable “little things” in life. Consider it a creative challenge to freshen your perspective and work toward an active appreciation of the smallest wonders.

       Recognize in the complexity of life the infinite opportunities for new ideas and interactions, and the power of small changes to bring about larger ones.

        Watch your language! just as athletes “psych” themselves for victory with positive words and imagery, our habits of expression can psych us “up” with creative energy or psych us “out” with negativism. Language alone can marshal more creative energy to a task. A “problem” feels like an obstacle.  A “challenge” is an invitation to success through innovative thinking. Take the challenge!

Do you want to do something more public-spirited for the community?

This is public creativity, or creativity with a “big C.” Your contribution of time, talents, or other resources are critically important to the health of your community.

       Share your ideas for enhancing the quality of life in your community. Conversation is a catalyst for change, and every idea shared plants a seed for community growth.

       Be an activist in ways that work for you. Volunteer as a leader, a vocal supporter or a helping hand, offer to host a meeting or in other ways support a project or activity that you feel is important.

       View yourself as a community “treasure” and share generously of your unique experience, insight, and talents. This cycle of connectedness to community and the affirming self-view it produces becomes a continuing source of creative energy.

Do you wonder if you’re “‘creative enough” to succeed?

You have what it takes. Don’t limit yourself to the stereotyped view of creativity as “for artists only.” We are each an artist of our own life. No matter what your life experience or circumstances, you can bring forth new thoughts and grow through new experiences that express different forms of creativity.

       Sign up for an art, music, writing, or craft class that introduces you to your ability to create or appreciate these art forms.

       Call an acquaintance, a friend, or a family member and take the initiative in setting up a time to get together for a pleasurable activity or simple visit. Offer your support in a project of theirs or invite them to join you in an activity of your choosing. This is social creativity and these connections strengthen your relationships and contribute to your own emotional resiliency.

Put the Creativity Equation to Work for You: Creativity = me2

Remember the simple “math” of creativity with our equation: C = me2 or creativity equals the mass of what you know multiplied by your life experience in two dimensions—your inner life or emotional experience, and your outer, or external, life experience.

        Where are you with the m—the knowledge base that you need to take the next step? Do you need to read, travel, talk with others or perhaps take a course or two to understand more about a field of interest?

        Think about the two dimensions of your life experience—inner and outer—as equally valuable resources that are renewable with each new experience.

        Evaluate your outer, external life and ask yourself: “What experiences do I have that I can draw upon to set the stage for new creative ventures?”

        Reflect on your inner world of emotional experience past and present. Do you feel psychologically ready to start on this new venture? If you feel uneasy or anxious about any aspect of it, discuss your concerns with good friends, attend a support group or consult with a therapist for short-term support or continuing help if needed.

       Tap into the additional psychological energy of the four developmental phases of adult life-Midlife Reevaluation, Liberation, Summing-Up, and Encore. Each phase offers a natural booster of motivation, insight, and emotional energy upon which to draw.

From The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life, by Gene D. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D. Copyright © 2000 by Gene D. Cohen. Excerpted by arrangement with HarperCollins. $25. Available in local bookstores or click here.