Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => The Coffee Corner => Topic started by: wolfnowl on November 26, 2013, 02:04:17 am
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I qualify... for the second part, anyway!
http://artistsroad.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/creativity-and-the-aging-brain/
Mike.
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I started to post a comment. But forgot what I was going to say.
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I started to post a comment. But forgot what I was going to say.
About what?
Rob C
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Jeez, that's an acute case.
Rob C
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I agree with Christoph.
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I agree with Christoph.
Thank you for jogging my memory back! Didn't he discover Greece?
Rob C
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I'm about three months short of 84. During my life I spent years designing solutions to military problems, wrote a bunch of poetry that was published in "little" magazines, for several years wrote on politics and economics for magazines like The Freeman, wrote some fiction that wasn't published, though there are some short stories resident at http://www.russ-lewis.com/asia/Shorts/S-preface.html. I did software engineering for thirty years after I retired from the air force and designed and built some fairly large systems. for about fifteen years I've built websites -- mostly for the fun of it, and recently, after a lapse of five years, I got back into programming and built some pretty fun software in C#. I've been an amateur photographer since I was twelve, and beginning at the age of 23 I got serious about it and started doing the kind of work that got me occasional publication and an occasional award.
I'm not sure how you measure "creativity," but all my life I've found great joy in creating things. The urge hasn't gone away. What's gone away gradually as I age is the ability to recover the words I want. I like writing on the web because I can stop and use Google to overcome that problem. I used to be able to stand up in front of a large group and speak comfortably and extemporaneously, a skill that stood me in good stead when I was a staff officer, a unit commander, and when I was mayor of Manitou Springs, Colorado, but now I often go for a word and can't grab it. I've had to stop trying to do it.
I don't agree at all with Doris Lessing. There always are slumps -- temporary burnouts -- in anyone's creativity, but the desire to create doesn't go away with age. What happens with age is that your toolkit changes. Some tools begin to shrink and become less useful, but the most important tool of all -- experience -- continues to grow.
Don't sweat it, gang. Keep shooting.
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"I don't agree at all with Doris Lessing. There always are slumps -- temporary burnouts -- in anyone's creativity, but the desire to create doesn't go away with age. What happens with age is that your toolkit changes. Some tools begin to shrink and become less useful, but the most important tool of all -- experience -- continues to grow."
Throw in beta-blockers and your creativity - and ability to service desires - goes away almost completely!
In that sense, your ability to garner or grow fresh experiences gets steadily deminished. You end up in reverie. Or worse - watching television.
I enjoy your sense of humour.
;-)
Rob C
P.S. Every time I read the title to this thread, it comes to me as 'Aging Brian.'
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Creativity is overrated.
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I used to be able to stand up in front of a large group and speak comfortably and extemporaneously, a skill that stood me in good stead when I was a staff officer, a unit commander, and when I was mayor of Manitou Springs, Colorado, but now I often go for a word and can't grab it. I've had to stop trying to do it.
I don't agree at all with Doris Lessing. There always are slumps -- temporary burnouts -- in anyone's creativity, but the desire to create doesn't go away with age. What happens with age is that your toolkit changes. Some tools begin to shrink and become less useful, but the most important tool of all -- experience -- continues
That reminds of an appositely titled Doris Lessing book from 1987 - 'The Wind Blows Away Our Words (http://www.dorislessing.org/theblows.html)'.
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Don't sweat it, gang. Keep shooting.
Good advice O Zen Master. Much appreciated. : )
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;-)
Rob C
P.S. Every time I read the title to this thread, it comes to me as 'Aging Brian.'
LOL, that reminds me of "Life of Brian" song...
"
Cheer up, Brian. You know what they say:
Some things in life are bad.
They can really make you mad.
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle,
Don't grumble. Give a whistle.
And this'll help things turn out for the best. And...
.......
Always look on the bright side of life.
"
;)