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The Never-ending Story of Your Creativity — You're Never Too Old to Be Creative
Your creativity doesn't diminish as you get older, but there are reasons why you don't feel creative as you age.
"I am too old. The ideas just don't come to me like they used to," he said. "I remember I could sit and draw for hours," he continued. "Put some music on in the background, sit at the kitchen table, didn't need an easel. I'd draw 'til my eyes were tired. You lose all of that when you get older. Best to use it while you're young, kid."
Max, my uncle's friend, thought he'd lost his creativity. He was 61 at the time. He believed he couldn't draw like he did when he was a "young man."
At one point, I thought the same. When I lost my voice as a creative writer, I thought I wasn't "as creative as I was when I was younger." I just hadn't written in my voice for nearly a decade.
Similar to Max, unsung creators, makers, writers, and artists over the age of 35 think their creativity has diminished with age.
Creativity doesn't diminish with age. Many have begun creative careers later in life:
- Toni Morrison was 40 when she published her first book.
- Folk Artist Grandma Moses didn't start painting until her 70s.
- Samuel L. Jackson didn't land his first major role in a movie until he was 43.
I have a theory about why it feels as if your creativity may have diminished, and my theory involves how you're using your creativity. My theory considers…
- what we think creativity is,
- divergent vs. convergent thinking activities
- never made it a profession
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou
Each part of my theory explores "why" we "feel" less creative as we get older and what we can do about it.
1️⃣What We Think Creativity Is.
Accordingly, Oxford Languages defines creativity as using imagination or original ideas, especially in producing an artistic work.
