Day 18: Elder Muse – A Creative Life

‘Art is not simply works of art; it is the spirit that knows beauty, that has music in its soul and the color of sunsets in its handkerchief, that can dance on a flaming world and make the world dance too.”

W.e.B. Du Bois

When we reach elderhood many of us start thinking about and opening into creative pursuits, whether we have been an artist all our lives, dabbled in the arts, or simply felt called to explore. As we reach elderhood many of us start feeling an inner urging to explore and discover through some form of creative expression.

My lifelong creative pursuits were mostly writing and some form of movement or dance, and of course the integrative health and well being arts. But somehow I now feel I have missed an entire realm filled with potential creative explorations. I have felt this way on and off throughout my life but have put it aside for the “business” of the day.

Now yearning to explore color, texture, form and shape, I am curious as to not only what will emerge, but how I will feel during the process. I am aware that creative practice is a way to access a meditative state of mind and a flow of feelings. In turn it can also reveal the depths of who we are, what we have experienced in our lives…. .and who we are becoming.

Below is a Green Renaissance video revealing 4 elders who have found unique ways to explore and live within creativity and access their inner resources. For some it is healing and for others it frees their souls and opens their hearts…..

Jul 15, 2020 “As humans, we have a challenge that other organisms don’t have. We are confronted with way more reality than any of us can stomach. The question is, how do we release the tensions that build up in our anxious human lives?

“Art is a guarantee to sanity,” said Louise Bourgeois. Creative practice is a way to access a meditative state of mind, breaking free from the constant debilitating chatter of the mind. It also taps into the deep unconscious and allows us to tune in to how we’re feeling inside, which can bring about profound healing.

The final result is not what matters. What is important is how the process of creating makes you feel. Why not use creativity as a way of spending some quiet time by yourself. “

To be part of our film making journey : https://www.patreon.com/greenrenaissance. Who is Green Renaissance? We are Michael and Justine – passionate filmmakers, living off-grid and dedicating our time to making films that we hope will inspire and share hope and positivity out into the world.

This film features : Dawn Garisch, Gina Niederhumer, Ole Jakob Nielsen and Kyoko Kimura Morgan Filmed in South Africa and the Faroe Islands

Editing – by Jackie Viviers Sound mix – by Tamryn Breakey

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Gaye Abbott, Wildly Free Elder, 12/17/22