Creativity and Aging

Jung said, “We would do well…to think of the creative process as a living thing implanted in the human psyche.” Collected Works, Vol. 15, para. 115

The creative process has no age limit.  We see it in small children as they play act; we see it in the dark poetry of adolescents; we see it in adults as they use imagination in their parenting and in their work.  We can see it in older people as they explore their psyches and their attitudes toward their lives in a multitude of creative ways.

In this workshop we will look at the academic research that shows how creativity affects the attitudes of older people toward the aging process and the approach of death. We will also explore some of the creative work done by people as they age, and we will have an opportunity to explore our own experience of creativity as we, ourselves, grow older.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to:

1. Explain how creativity affects people as they age.
2. Describe specific examples of how the creative process manifested in older people.
3. Explore the place of creativity in their own lives.