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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Creativity and Aging


Sources of Creativity[1]

Most artists (81%) reported that the sources of their creativity had changed with age, with only a few writing, as one 86-year-old man did, that their ideas had become worse: “ As I age, all my mental processes, as well as physical ones, degenerate.  This affects my creativity adversely. “More typically, artists reported new ideas with increased age:  “I have definitely become more creative as years go by, working harder at my art and spending more time with my peers ‘brain busting (79 year old man) “My ideas come more quickly as I age (76 year old man). A 68-year-old womena was more specific concerning how her ideas changed:
         I depend less now on conscious and visually completed “plan”, preferring to let  “ chance” changes enter into the unfolding of the finished product.  Chance, or the subconscious, is my friend and co-creator, held in come check by being careful and aware of Murphy’s Law.

A 65-year old man explained how his priorities changed over the years/
         In my teens and twenties, I was preoccupied with dating, mating and earning a living, etc.  In those early years, I lacked a focus on artistic production.  In my 40s, 50s and 60s, [changes in] time interest and function increased my artistic production.

An 80-year-old woman wrote:
         In my teens I had other studies than art.  In my 20s I was in art school and teaching.  In my 3os and 40s I did full time teaching.” In my 50s, 60s and 70s, I was doing full time painting.”

(Now what about you?????????)




[1] This Material comes from the Creativity Research Journal I find this information very useful as I travel through the later stage of life.

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