Key points
- It’s never too late to learn to play a musical instrument, or draw, or even listen to music.
- According to experts, we need to trust that we are creative and look for ways to foster that creativity.
- A trip to a local museum, an art exhibit, or even listening to music, can meet the the research criteria.
Although we know it’s a myth, as we age, many of us continue to search for the proverbial fountain of youth so that we can turn back the clock, or age more slowly. What is it about aging that worries us so much? Is it the bodily changes, the loss of purpose, the mind getting dull—or something still worse?
While several of our current tech leaders try stringent or bizarre diets, unproven drugs, and novel body strengthening routines that are beyond the reach of most of us, there may be simpler, enjoyable, and less costly alternatives to maintaining our youthfulness that are satisfying—and that work.
A research team at the University of London “found that those who engaged in arts and cultural activities more frequently, and who engaged in a wider diversity of these activities, appeared to have a slower pace of ageing and a younger biological age….” The study went on to say that “The links were stronger for middle-aged and older adults aged 40 or above,” meaning that it’s never too late to invest yourself in activities like learning to play a musical instrument, or drawing, or even listening to music—yes, just listening!
More striking still was the observation that those who engaged in the arts, at least once a week, aged more slowly than those who did physical exercise once a week. So there is even hope for the self-proclaimed couch potato. When I suggest findings like this to my age cohort—older adults—I usually hear that such endeavors require creativity. And then there is the usual follow-up argument that details how they are just not creative, never have been, as if there is an on-off switch on this commodity. Lots of folks believe that you either have creativity or you don’t. Is that dichotomy valid?
Is Creativity Inherent or Learned?
Everyone is born with the ability to be creative, as witnessed in toddlers’ art classes. It is true that some kids are early identified as gifted and then get lots of support for their art form. Most others don’t pursue drawing or playing the violin because they don’t see themselves as creative and aren’t encouraged by parents or the community at large. I know this to be true. You don’t have to feel creative to enjoy the arts.
When I was writing my book, The Vintage Years: Finding Your Inner Artist (Writer, Musician, Visual Artist) After Sixty, I interviewed many people, some of whom abandoned a creative pursuit as a child or teen because it became too difficult to motivate themselves when they received no support or encouragement from the outside world. They believed they didn’t have creativity.
I also interviewed some, like David Finkel, now retired cellist with the world-renowned Emerson String Quartet and current co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center in New York City. He was, in fact, encouraged in his cello playing as a child by his family who were also musicians, and he was early identified as gifted—offering the necessary boost to his self-belief. He was labeled as creative and internalized the moniker. But he is certainly in the minority.
Recently I heard Aithan Shapira, an artist who is also a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, talk about “creative maturation,” a process that needs tending like a garden. He is a believer in the creativity of us all, but he says that the garden does need to be tended to—and pruned as necessary. He calls this “destruction in the service of growth.” In a talk at the Modern Elder Academy,* he questioned whether “we are enabling the things that emerge.” We need to trust that we are creative and look for ways to foster our own creativity to breathe life into it. Creativity, after all, is not an on/off switch or only available to some, and not others.
Virginia Kidd, Ph.D.,** a retired professor of communication studies, spoke with me about this conundrum. She suggested that while we all have novel ideas, they’re often dismissed as unimportant by ourselves. She said, “I get ideas, and while other people get ideas as well, they often ignore them and say ‘No. I can’t do that.’ When people say no, they don’t have space to pursue new ideas.” They are shutting off a channel to creative processes.
It’s hard to support a creative inclination when there are naysayers all around you, and also within you. In our early years, taken up mostly in school, there are lots of distractions and challenges that need to be met—no time for creative activities to be taken seriously, according to the doubters. In midlife, people are just too busy with family, work, and community to be distracted by a creative pursuit.
Creativity and Curiosity Are Still Important in the Age of AI
The Invisible Hand Is a Person
Embracing Creativity Later in Life
But later in life, when things slow down a bit, the yearning to play the piano, or write that short story that’s been developing in your head, or take that pottery class at the senior center becomes easier to integrate into life, and more like an urgency as time feels like it’s running out. Still, the nagging worry about how you aren’t creative may once again come to the fore. Now is the time to challenge this, for if not now, then when? What’s more, a trip to a local museum, art exhibit, or even listening to music can meet the University of London criteria.
The creativity paradigm really needs to be changed. Just assume that you are as creative as you need to be. Then the pursuit becomes easier. You are engaging in whatever activity you like because you wantto, independent of creativity. It makes life easier, and there are fewer barriers to overcome. The bonus is that you will probably live longer and enjoy your life a bit more.
*Modern Elder Academy (MEA), Live Event, June 25, 2026, “The Art of Change: Creativity as Fuel for Growth in Uncertain Times”
**California State University, Sacramento
F. Toder, The Vintage Years: Finding Your Inner Artist (Writer, Musician, Visual Artist) After Sixty,Aziri Books, 2012.
