I thought I would share a few of the things that I've read or seen on creative aging recently. The New York Times ran an article on dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp, 68. The article talks about Tharp's career, her successes, failures and latest works.
Another current New York Times article reports on the large number of people over 55 who are starting new businesses, which is certainly a form of creativity.Starting New Businesses at 55 or Older Older adults are starting their own businesses at a great rate, partly because of the economy, which makes it difficult for them to find "jobs" and partly because they want to stay engaged with new adventures.
Here's another link I wanted to share with you. It's a video clip from US News on the value of creativity for health and wellness in the later years. It includes an interview with the late Dr. Gene Cohen, who pioneered the field of creative aging with his marvelous work.
US News Article
Perhaps you are tired of clicking on links by now. Are you? I enjoy it myself, but not everybody does. I read a great article on creative aging in the November-December issue of Aging Today. It's by Gay Hanna, executive director of the National Center for Creative Aging. I am not going to put a link to it, but you can easily find it if you are fired up to read it.
I am a real fan of slowness--spaciousness, leisureliness, enjoying things in the moment and connecting fully rather than rushing onto the next whatever. I was delighted to find a great book about it-- Slow is Beautiful: New Visions of Community, Leisure and Joie de Vivre by Cecile Andrews. It's quite a marvelous exposition on how happiness and slowness are connected. I will probably talk about it further in another post once I've finished reading it.
The photo in this post is of a Cuban dancer. I have a collection of images of older people from our own and various other countries who are engaged in various kinds of creative expression. They will make their way onto these posts as time goes on.
I am getting ready to do more video clips for You Tube, and I am packing, packing packing for my upcoming move. Today I am having a friend over for lunch, then attending a concert of the Rogue Valley Chorale where my friend and collaborator Laura Rich will sing a solo from Guys and Dolls. That's my news of the day here.
Enjoy the emergence of spring with your own fervent dances, in your own unique style. Be yourself, everyone else is taken, as my friend Cache likes to say.
Gaea - Looking forward to the new video clips. Also - I am going next to purchase the Slow is Beautiful book! Good luck with your move! Love Betsy
ReplyDeleteI read The Times this morning and enjoyed the Tharp article also. Maybe you do, as I usually do, skip the sports section. But this morning a first page article described Dorothy Mills who co-wrote a three volume history of baseball and only now is getting recognition for her life work, which was no less arduous and serious than that of her husband who got all the glory. Here is a woman in her 80s who has finally said, "Hey, I worked as hard as my husband." Finally she is being recognized for her work. Truly, better late than never.
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