Creative with Age (and PRACTICE!)
Growing up, I was led to believe that you worked until you were 65--and then you retired.
Thing is, I don't intend to retire.
I intend to work until the day I die if I have any say in the matter. Granted, I don't intend to work a normal day job until I reach the end.
Obviously, I want to write. Slim odds, I know, but I've had enough successes with my writing to know that my odds are much better than the average person thinking it would be neat to write a book, get it published, and make a lot of money. (Most people who daydream about writing being a laid back, fun, and creative career haven't the faintest idea how hard a profession it really is.)
I read a blog entry about creativity and the aging brain today. It's an interesting entry, reminding me of an article about late bloomers that I read last October.
I like Gladwell's "Late Bloomers" piece better because it mentions the hard work that goes into creative endeavors. The Psychology Today blog entry is great, too, but the way it's written, there's almost this feeling that one gets older and suddenly becomes creative. Most of the examples of older people who created something truly wonderful in their twilight years are people who had years of practice in what they pursued before their twilight years.
Frank Lloyd Wright completed his design for the Guggenheim Museum in his 90s, sure, but it's not like he suddenly started being creative when he got older. Millard Kaufman's first novel may have been published when he was in his 90s, but he'd been writing for decades before turning to novels.
Grandma Moses started painting in her 70s. Truly started painting in her 70s.
And it shows.
Her years of embroidery experience show in her art, but what shows the most in her art is the heavy influence of the French Impressionists and Dutch painters from the Renaissance. I'm not saying that she swiped the styles (she wasn't proficient enough to swipe the styles if she wanted to), but it's clear that she didn't have her own style.
Grandma Moses painted in the last 30 years of her life. I think that's great, but her art is not the art of a refined artist. She painted 3600 paintings, and she really didn't get better over the years. (Definitely a case of quantity over quality.)
While I think the Psychology Today blog entry is very interesting, there's a feeling in the examples used that one reaches a certain age and is suddenly able to produce great works. I think older people may have an easier time in some ways leaping to creative pursuits than a fifteen-year-old just starting out, but that fifteen-year-old--if they stick with their love--will be much better in their old age than had they started something in their 70s.
I still find the entry about the older brain's wiring encouraging. I've spent 20 years seriously pursuing writing. I recently completed Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and in the book, Gladwell found that it takes roughly 10,000 hours to get really good at something. I've put in long hours juggling during my life, and I've put in long hours writing.
It's no coincidence or matter of innate talent that the things I'm best at doing in my life are the two things I've done more than anything else I've ever done.
My abilities are the result of hard work. I'm only just beginning to come into my own as a writer.
I hope to make more money writing than I have over the years.
I hope to write until the day I die a very old man.
But despite a life of pursuing creative endeavors, if I start painting at 70, I suspect I won't create a decent piece until my 90s.
Older people like saying "Practice makes perfect"; I'm glad it's a saying that I took to heart years ago...
Thing is, I don't intend to retire.
I intend to work until the day I die if I have any say in the matter. Granted, I don't intend to work a normal day job until I reach the end.
Obviously, I want to write. Slim odds, I know, but I've had enough successes with my writing to know that my odds are much better than the average person thinking it would be neat to write a book, get it published, and make a lot of money. (Most people who daydream about writing being a laid back, fun, and creative career haven't the faintest idea how hard a profession it really is.)
I read a blog entry about creativity and the aging brain today. It's an interesting entry, reminding me of an article about late bloomers that I read last October.
I like Gladwell's "Late Bloomers" piece better because it mentions the hard work that goes into creative endeavors. The Psychology Today blog entry is great, too, but the way it's written, there's almost this feeling that one gets older and suddenly becomes creative. Most of the examples of older people who created something truly wonderful in their twilight years are people who had years of practice in what they pursued before their twilight years.
Frank Lloyd Wright completed his design for the Guggenheim Museum in his 90s, sure, but it's not like he suddenly started being creative when he got older. Millard Kaufman's first novel may have been published when he was in his 90s, but he'd been writing for decades before turning to novels.
Grandma Moses started painting in her 70s. Truly started painting in her 70s.
And it shows.
Her years of embroidery experience show in her art, but what shows the most in her art is the heavy influence of the French Impressionists and Dutch painters from the Renaissance. I'm not saying that she swiped the styles (she wasn't proficient enough to swipe the styles if she wanted to), but it's clear that she didn't have her own style.
Grandma Moses painted in the last 30 years of her life. I think that's great, but her art is not the art of a refined artist. She painted 3600 paintings, and she really didn't get better over the years. (Definitely a case of quantity over quality.)
While I think the Psychology Today blog entry is very interesting, there's a feeling in the examples used that one reaches a certain age and is suddenly able to produce great works. I think older people may have an easier time in some ways leaping to creative pursuits than a fifteen-year-old just starting out, but that fifteen-year-old--if they stick with their love--will be much better in their old age than had they started something in their 70s.
I still find the entry about the older brain's wiring encouraging. I've spent 20 years seriously pursuing writing. I recently completed Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and in the book, Gladwell found that it takes roughly 10,000 hours to get really good at something. I've put in long hours juggling during my life, and I've put in long hours writing.
It's no coincidence or matter of innate talent that the things I'm best at doing in my life are the two things I've done more than anything else I've ever done.
My abilities are the result of hard work. I'm only just beginning to come into my own as a writer.
I hope to make more money writing than I have over the years.
I hope to write until the day I die a very old man.
But despite a life of pursuing creative endeavors, if I start painting at 70, I suspect I won't create a decent piece until my 90s.
Older people like saying "Practice makes perfect"; I'm glad it's a saying that I took to heart years ago...