by Lou Belcher

Created on: March 26, 2009

How a creative outlet leads to wellness among the aged.

Too often, people count the days until retirement, but once the freedom from work arrives, they have trouble knowing what to do with themselves. Over time, this lack of direction can lead to a sedentary lifestyle and often sedentary lifestyles lead to a decline in wellness among the aged.

First of all, it is difficult to define "aged." Some people are still going strong at 90 and beyond while others seem to fade at 60 when retirement is still a couple of years off. What makes this drastic difference is often the lack of a creative outlet. Creativity to you may be very different than creativity to your neighbor. Regardless of how you express that creativity, it seems to have an important connection with wellness among the aged.

Some, once they retire, retreat to a rigid daily schedule to make them feel useful. Others actually go out and find creative outlets and become useful. This clear distinction seems to be what makes the difference. It has been found that those who look toward retirement as finally having an opportunity to pursue all those creative endeavors they've put off while working have increased wellness. This generally happens for two reasons. First, because they have a creative endeavor, they are up and moving about to pursue that endeavor. Therefore they lead a more active lifestyle than the retiree who has no reason to get up each day. Secondly, mood plays a big role in wellness. Those who have a creative endeavor to pursue, generally live with purpose and are more upbeat than those who have no direction.

Creative outlets tend to lead to sharper minds as well. Those who use their minds, essentially exercise those neuro-pathways, tend to have sharper minds for longer. Creativity keeps you sharp. Studies have shown that even just the introduction of doing one puzzle in the newspaper per day leads to greater well-being. Imagine how much it helps to engage in a creative activity for most of the day.

Art, music and writing are often creative endeavors seniors turn to when they finally have time. These creative outlets have found to do more than create a painting or song or story. In addition, pursuing the arts helps seniors bridge the gaps from the past to the present. By the time of retirement, seniors have lost friends and loved ones. The pursuit of artistic endeavors brings on wellness by giving them an outlet to relive happy memories and reconcile sad ones.

With all these advantages in mind, it is a good idea to help seniors find creative outlets. It just might lead to increased wellness in later years.

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