It is not common knowledge, but elderhood is a wonderfully creative time in the human life cycle. Like a coal breaking into fire, the imagination is inflamed by the experience of being old, of nearing the end, and wants – needs – to give expression to what we’re thinking and feeling.

The creative imagination is a terrific source of fresh energy, and a faculty perfectly matched to the “work” of being old. It is the bringer of options and new possibilities. It helps us wonder about life’s great mysteries. It is a natural story maker at a time when we need to “connect the dots” and describe the experiences that have led us to become the people we are today. It is playful, and helps us live lightly, to find joy in the commonplace and peace in difficult times. It gives us a language to express our hopes and fears, our awe and sorrows; and it is the only thought form free enough to contemplate the big existential questions that arise at this time of life.

In elderhood we need occasions to reawaken our creative imaginations. We need them to help us reflect on the whole of our lives and find the story-thread that runs through all our days. We need others going through similar life changes with whom we can share. And we need creative tools to help us give expression to the private paths that make each of us unique, and to the common ground we all share.

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NNV hopes to help you meet these needs through an ongoing new series called Four Seasons of Creativity for Elders. Each season you’ll be invited to engage in a creative experience designed specifically for elders and our shared need to tell our stories in new and imaginative ways. These workshops will run for 4-6 weeks (depending on the activity), and will be guided by David Oldfield, director of The Midway Center for Creative Imagination, who has led several such groups for us in the past.

Each season we will engage our creative imaginations using a different form of creative expression. 

David Oldfield has been inviting older people to construct maps of their lives for many years. He will share stories and illustrations from his recent book, An Atlas of Aging, which features the life maps of 20 older adults from around the world. He is the founder and director of Farther On, a movement dedicated to reframing the later years of life as an adventure to be lived rather than a problem to be solved. David has spent the last 35 years designing transformational experiences and toolboxes to help people through threshold times in the life cycle – adolescence, midlife, retirement, and the final threshold of our deaths.

David’s guidebooks and programs address these profound transitions and have been used around the world. Additionally, he is devoted to helping corporations and organizations through their own threshold moments of growth and renewal. His work is grounded in the timeless wisdom of world mythology.

David recently did a Virtual Speaker Series presentation where he introduced the new series and discussed creativity in elderhood. Watch the video here.

The Winter season project class - Creating Your Personal Legacy Box - starts Friday, February 2nd. It will be held at the Chevy Chase Library. NNV Members can sign up on our website here.