Creating Your Personal Legacy Box

Creative Eldering Series

Four Seasons of Creativity for Elders

It is not common knowledge, but elderhood is a wonderfully creative time in the human life cycle. Like a coal breaking into fire, the imagination is enflamed by the experience of being old, of nearing the end, and wants – needs – to give expression to what we’re thinking and feeling.

The creative imagination is a terrific source of fresh energy, and a faculty perfectly matched to the “work” of being old. It is the bringer of options and new possibilities. It helps us wonder after life’s great mysteries. It is a natural story maker at a time when we need to “connect the dots” and describe the experiences that have led us to become the people we are today. It is playful, and helps us live lightly, to find the joy in the commonplace, and peace in difficult times. It gives us a language to express our hopes and fears, our awe and sorrows; and it is the only thought form free enough to contemplate the big existential questions that arise at this time of life.

In elderhood we need occasions to reawaken our creative imaginations. We need them to help us reflect on the whole of our lives and find the story-thread that runs through all our days. We need others going through similar life changes to with whom we can share. And we need creative tools to help us give expression to the private paths that make each of us unique, and the common ground we all share.

NNV hopes to help you meet these needs through an ongoing new series called Four Seasons of Creativity for Elders. Each season you’ll be invited to engage in a creative experience designed specifically for elders and our shared need to tell our stories in new and imaginative ways. These workshops will run for 4-6 weeks (depending on the activity), and will be guided by David Oldfield, Director of The Midway Center for Creative Imagination, who has led several such groups for us in the past.

Each season we will engage our creative imaginations using a different form of creative expression.

• In winter, we will create legacy boxes to hold our most precious memories and keepsakes;
• In spring, we will draw maps of our lives;
• In summer, we will winnow our memories to find the precious few that define us through writing and storytelling; and
• In the fall, we will make and paint life masks.

The workshops are free; all materials will be provided. And no talent is required! All we need from you is a willingness to say “YES!” to a new experience, and a desire to explore your life in creative ways.

Attendance: If you have signed up to attend and find you are no longer available, please email or call the office (202-935-6060) to let us know so we can offer your space to another person.