182 Comments

IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ. If you all are reading through the comments the way I am, are you noticing something huge? Namely, that most of the people here seem to be getting MORE creative as they grow older, not less. This is the exact opposite of what our culture tells us.

On this point - my dear friend, the great psychologist and author, Scott Barry Kaufman, read today's post, and just told me that the very first article he ever published, in Psychology Today, was on this topic!!. It was called "Confessions of a Late Bloomer" and the thesis was:

"We have fixed notions about the time course of success and the nature of talent that encourage us to write off the very people who are most likely to (eventually) change the world."

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It’s always good to hope. We just have to surround ourselves with people who encourage us. We are all in desperate need of encouragement.

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Thank you for naming this -- so validating, Susan ; )

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I can't wait to retire from teaching in June, so i can move on to full time writing and creating!

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Yes, one hundred 💯 correct.

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I love this! At 72, I still have creative dreams. For almost two years I have been learning Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop in online classes so I can design fabric, wallpaper, and more. I'm also a fine artist who feels stuck as to how to share my work. I love this space, Susan!

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Very interesting, I'm doing the same thing! I've been collecting books on pattern design for years, but haven't done much with it until the past few months (learning Affinity). A friend recently reminded me that the creative spirit is what feeds everything else (family, work, etc) so it has to be nourished too.

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I love that and will remember it for when I feel guilty for when I take time for creating.

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Amazing that you're still learning like this, Linda.

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Linda, I think we are Kindred sisters

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Tell me more!

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Nevermind, I kept reading and saw that you have been teaching yourself too, that you are using procreate, and are driven or called to create/make/paint.

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Alisann, I’m curious about whether you could tell Linda more about yourself and why you said you are like kindred sisters. What resonated for you in Linda’s description?

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I’m inspired! I’m following this thread with wide eyes and an open heart ... I have inklings about textile design. Your conversation is giving me tingles. Please do continue...lots of us are encouraged by you.

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Are you asking about Procreate. If so, here's the link. Easy to install, easy to learn. Tons of videos to learn from. https://procreate.com/

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Hi Alisann...I am very intrigued by Procreate, have it on my iPad Pro, and have taken classes on it. I know how to use it to make layers to import into Ai or Ps, but I actually enjoy doing analog painting more and working that way. One day, when I REALLY feel comfortable in both Ai and Ps, I'm planning on taking that time to really learn to use Procreate. I've thought about Affinity Designer too since that is vector based.

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Wow, I admire your effort and enthusiasm.

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Hey Sister I’m 76 and my creativity is the most fulfilling, scary, hopeful.

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Jean...thanks for that! "It's never too late to become what you might have been." ~George Eliot.

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I love to draw and illustrate, and have found that I become overwhelmed with large projects. My creative eyes are “too big for my tummy” kind of thing...so lately I’ve been writing Haiku poems daily, and this has become the highlight of my day...this appointment with myself. I’m shy to share it, so I don’t. Yet. I also am plagued with the constant worry or thought that no one cares! I have to get over that. Because if there can be a million face cream anti-aging ads in my feeds, why can’t there be an extra poem?

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I get the same thing re overwhelm w large projects, which is one reason it takes me so many years to write each book.

Love the idea of haikus - I def think you should try sharing one. As for no one caring - I apply by analogy the idea of "if you've saved one life, you've saved the whole world" - ie if one person is moved by your poem, that's enough.

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Such wise words and wonderful advice, thank you so much for this community and your work. All of us quiet souls need this!

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During the pandemic, after recently retiring after several stressful last years that included some toxic politics, moving 3000 miles, losing my mother to a particularly angry expression of Alzheimer's, discovering my husband's health was failing (he has since been diagnosed with Parkinsons), losing my beloved horse -my touchstone (she became injured just days after arrival here), having too much time and space to overthink some life issues I had never dealt with and world issues I had little control over, I became rather unmoored. It was reading (Bittersweet, Quiet, and Brene Brown, some counseling, but mostly creative work that pulled me out of my dark night. I began painting and making handmade books, and writing short gratitude reflections every single day for 100 days (and intermittently for the rest of that year). In my life before, I had been mainly a closet creative. Today, to my astonishment, my journals are carried in the gift shops at a wildlife refuge (where I also was worked as the artist in residence for their Refuge to Schools program) and my local fine arts center. I became a Master Gardener through my local extension service and now have my published in my local newspaper on gardening (and life). Never in a million years before would I have had the courage or believed I had the talent to do these things. But once I settled into accepting and allowing myself to be as I am, and offer from my heart without comparing it to everyone else..doors have opened. As my husband's illness progresses, creative work from home is always possible. We are all creative beings. At 62, I feel in some ways, my life-my full life is just beginning.

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... “ but once I settled into accepting and allowing myself to be as I am, and offer my heart without comparing it to everyone else...” 💕💕💕

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This is an incredibly inspirational post, Julie. I hope that everyone reads this!

And I am very sorry for all your losses.

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Thank you, and also, I am finally seeing, struggle, loss, are just life. They are part of the commonality of our human condition. It is recognizing that, that brings forth our grace, unites us in our humanity. And your work helped me remember how it is the moments of beauty- often tiny glimmers that help us float above those hard surfaces. Your book, Bittersweet, was transformational for me. It helped me shed feeling "other" and "apart" and recognize I was part of a tribe.

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I loved reading this: “There’s a difference between making a creative living vs. living a creative life.”

I have a pragmatic approach and have stuck with my career in Medicine through ups and downs. But five years ago, I started taking sewing classes. I don’t know where the impulse came from. I just got the idea and started learning, and I haven’t stopped taking classes and meeting fellow sewists and teachers. I do not see myself as a fashion designer or leaving my career at this age ( I am 50 and starting a new position in my field of medicine ). Still, I have thought about probably sewing custom garments slowly and sustainably for a few clients in the future. But, for now, I have added much creativity to my life by sewing for myself.

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PS I never knew the word "sewist"

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😆I checked and it is not in the dictionary!!, but it is frequently used

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Sewist is a new word for me but I have heard it a lot in taking classes on making patterns for fabric. What would the sewists want? I sew too, and quilt, but have never heard that word.

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there is so much wisdom in this one paragraph of yours.

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At 76 I've felt a desire to write the stories that emerge from daily life, the ancestors, the encounters that are more than coincidence. Procrastination and negative self-talk are the only things standing in the way. Thanks, Susan, for the persuasive encouragement 🙏

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My experience w the negative stuff that comes up is to just sit down and do it, neg voices or no. So how about right now, just for ten minutes?

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PS coffee also helps w the negative voices

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I have a similar desire Angela, centered around the “ancestors”. I have always had a love of history, majored in “History” for my BA. Because most of my family died by the time I was 16, three in one year when I was 16 years old, family stories were arrested, and then disappeared deeper and deeper. I became interested in family history/genealogy about 20 years ago and started hunting for my ancestors. I found a lot of events, births, marriages, deaths, etc., that helped me piece together the bare bones of my ancestors’ lives but what really interests me is what were they really like. Mindful that even my own parents and sister left no written stories of their own, I have focused on leaving a huge written and photographic legacy of my life for my daughter and grandchildren.

Going forward though it’s been niggling at me that there would be so much more I could write about in the ethnographic vein. But, like you, negative self-talk, procrastination, miring myself in the thick of thin things (a Stephen Covey quote), keeps me from actually writing publicly.

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I too am 76. As Nike says, just do it...

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Great question Susan. At 73 I still want to learn. I also want to improve my art and expand my creativity. Over the past 3 years I have probably taken more painting classes than I have in my entire life. I have also learned how to use Procreate as a tool when sketching a composition.

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it's so inspiring that you're doing this. And, you should compare notes with Linda Hoenisberg - see her comment up top!

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I read it after I posted mine. Wow-Kindred sisters

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I love seeing other artists on here! Procreate is an amazing tool. I like the fact that I don’t have spirals of notebooks anymore when I just want to doodle.

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I used to have stacks of sketches...You are so right Raissa. And it's only $10.

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I have the pocket version for my phone too that I like to doodle on when waiting in various office waiting rooms. Best tool ever for creatives and the $10 isn’t a monthly thing like so many subscriptions.

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I have it on my Ipad. And the fact it is a one-time purchase makes it even better

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Ah, found it here!

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Tomorrow we’re off to the island of Curacao and next week is my 51st birthday. I’d hoped to be in good health but 10 years ago I was diagnosed with 7 herniated disc and 6 bulging disc and in 2021 I had a hysterectomy to remove a rapidly growing 5lb fibroid plus other small ones and last month I was diagnosed with Barretts Esophagus during preventative screening. My experience with the hysterectomy could be a best seller. What they don’t tell you about a hysterectomy. So, next week I’ll start writing my story. My story about becoming a mother at 14, 2nd at 17 and my 3rd at 32. Growing up with a mother who developed a drug addiction and schizophrenia and an alcoholic, workaholic father. The bright side, my children. My children, my fuel while working full-time and attending college. At 23 I married husband the father of my 3rd child. Together we raised our children and supported our education and careers. He graduated with an Electrical Engineering Degree and I earned a BBA with concentration in management. I spent 28 years combined in the banking and financial advising. For now, I’m just writing.

As far as my other creative pursuits. I’ve always enjoy gardening and organizing. I delve into remodeling homes to make some money but fell in love with breathing life into something that has been neglected. I’m the lady buying the plants that no one wants, the plants that are 75% off just to see if I can bring them back to life and 9 times out of 10 I do.

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goosebumps, reading your story - especially the part about your children, and breathing life into the plants that no one wants

and wishing you good health, too...

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Thank you! I’ve changed my diet, lost 8lbs since November 14th and have managed to avoid surgery and decrease pain naturally via self-care. As I shared with my family, I got this!

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What a fascinating and rich life you’ve lived. I can’t wait to read your book!

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Please write your story. I want to read it.

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I so look forward to your story. Please email me when you post.

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I first became creative at 72 (now 76). I made costume jewelry and some came out quite well. Then I had much more than I needed so I gave some away. Then I started painting acrylics landscapes. I must say I particularly enjoyed this and have about 100 hanging in my house...yes 100. Ha! Then as I ran out of room, I painted some for friends. I also did a little painting and distressing furniture for the old or primitive look. Now I’m making my second king size quilt. Not the traditional one, but as I live in a hot climate, these have no batting.

All of this was self taught and just kind of came to me naturally. And this all happened after I retired and my husband died and I have no children or grands, so I have oodles of time. I find it so relaxing and gives you such a sense of accomplishment and self confidence that I sort of lacked before. Creativity of any sort can do amazing things for your mental health.

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Thank you so much for this. I am 32 and I wrote poetry in childhood but never got an education in poetry. In my 20s I was diagnosed with an illness and didn't write much at all. I've just started writing seriously a year ago and often think I'm too old to become good enough to get published. I write because I need to write, but I do have dreams of putting a little book out into the world. I'm also cripplingly shy and worry about the things I will have to do if my dream ever comes true. I so needed this!

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Oh my goodness from my ancient age of 55, YOU ARE SO YOUNG to get started. But I also say this from concrete experience - I was 33 when I started writing.

And yes re the shyness - just focus right now on the joy of crafting your jewels, and you can worry about the promotional stuff later. Really.

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Thank you so much, this means everything to me.

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Dec 17, 2023
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Thank you very much

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FOMU (fear of messing up) keeps us from going out on a limb that's calling our name. Coming to Substack a few months ago is freeing me up in ways that have been surprising and life-giving.

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I’m new too. I have precious little response to my post sp Om struggling with what this means.

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After a fledgling academic career writing articles that a handful of people read, I hope to reach out to a few more people with writing that pulls on their heart strings and makes them feel less alone just like so many authors did for me. I’m not surrounded by people who love poetic prose so I do hope to get my voice out there so I can hear its echoes through those who connect to my words.

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there are lovers of poetic prose everywhere, even if not in your immediate vicinity :)

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Thanks for replying, Susan and for writing the encouraging post in the first place! For a 40-plus woman who has been a "homemaker" for the last decade, there is no audience at all at the moment (poetic prose or not) and the publishing world seems super intimidating. I have been writing a book for a few months that hasn't seen the light of day (yet). I am rediscovering the importance of my own words and building up my confidence by writing here on substack now. Somewhere along the way, I feel like I stopped the sound of my own voice. Like you say in your post, this is a journey we must all take to fulfill a dream, however distant or unlikely it may seem (: Keep writing!

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Maria, I am someone who loves reading poetic prose, so I’m your target audience! I hope you share something here. (BTW, I write poetry from time to time, and am working on the personal essay form.)

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Thanks, Ann! I recently started writing here and have posted a few pieces. Hope to cross paths with you (:

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I am 79 and still learning...things like photoshop and tik tok and new apps, oh my! It’s an awesome feeling to figure them out and say aha! I did it! Sharing my writing here on Substack was a big step for me... much more public than my little blog. I have found my creative strength in gathering folks ...if that counts! I work with local authors, those needing grief support, and serve on different boards, committes as that’s engaging with other ways of thinking! So...busyness yes, but oh to savor in my solitude times! Thank you for this, Susan. What a nice community I’ve hound here! 😊

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Found!

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Grief really motivates my writing. I look forward to checking you out.

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This piece is fascinating and very timely for me. I also have a legal background, but I’m at the point of having no choice but to be more expansive with my creativity as a traditional career is just too difficult to pursue (and I have 3 law degrees!). It’s nice to know that people such as yourself can make a success of being creative!

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I have met so many ex-lawyers now-creatives!

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Margy Houtz

I started a sewing/fashion blog in 2011, when I was 71. To my utter amazement, it was popular and I made many friends and followers. I stopped blogging in 2018 and I have missed having that creative outlet and a way to connect without having to BE there. Due to health problems and the pandemic, I turned my creative interests to gardening and enjoyed making a large succulent garden. Now, at 83, I am trying to reignite my passion; I don’t care to return to blogging, but I miss waking up in the morning with excitement and creative fire. My blog is still up, if you want to take a look at it…

www.afool4fabric.blogspot.com

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Amazing. I'm starting to think, from all these testimonies, that people get more and more creative with age - which is the opposite of what one usually hears.

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Oh, hi! I followed your blog and loved it . I was wondering how you were. So glad you are doing well.

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Thanks, Inez!

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I love this Susan. I am a Nurse, Mom, Wife, Gigi who wants to be an author. At 56, I'm giving it a try. I adore articles and communities like these who show us all it is never too late.

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