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Blog archive

December 2024

November 2024

Event of Remembrance
11/22/2024

Phishing Scams: What You Need to Know
11/22/2024

Pupusas Family Style: Another Adventurous Dining Winner
11/22/2024

Celebrating the Holidays
11/21/2024

Genealogy Group: Discovering Our Pasts
11/21/2024

Nathan Wolford – From Tragedy to Ministry
11/21/2024

Pasadena Village Board of Directors: A Brief Overview
11/21/2024

President's Message
11/21/2024

The Day of the Dead (Dia de muertos)/ Mexican Culture/Community
11/21/2024

Vintage Celebration: Aging Like a Fine Wine
11/21/2024

Review of Racism in Our Local Past
11/20/2024

Creative Juices Flow in The Village
11/19/2024

Checking In by Ed Rinderle
11/15/2024

Eagle Poem by Joy Harjo
11/15/2024

I Shall Forget You Presently, My Dear (Sonnet IV) by Edna St. Vincent Millay
11/15/2024

Pictures From Brueghel by William Carlos Williams
11/15/2024

October 2024

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!
10/29/2024

Bill Wishner: Visual Hunter
10/29/2024

Can a Village Group Fix Our Healthcare System?
10/29/2024

Community Board Directors Strengthen Village Board
10/29/2024

Connecting with Village Connections: The A, B, C, & D’s of Medicare @ 65+
10/29/2024

Grief is a Journey: Two Paths Taken
10/29/2024

Message from the President
10/29/2024

Promoting Informed & Involved Voters
10/29/2024

What Will Be Your Legacy?
10/29/2024

1619, Approaching the Election...
10/27/2024

Beyond and Within the Village - A Star is Born
10/17/2024

Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
10/11/2024

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
10/11/2024

Unpainted Door by Louise Gluck
10/11/2024

In the Evening by Billy Collins
10/10/2024

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
10/10/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

September 2024

August 2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

First Anniversary
08/19/2024

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen
08/16/2024

Muse des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
08/16/2024

The God Abandons Antony by Constantinos P. Cavafy
08/16/2024

Ch – Ch – Ch –Changes
08/15/2024

Cultural Activities Team offers an ‘embarrassment of riches’
08/15/2024

Engaging in Pasadena Village
08/15/2024

Future Housing Options
08/15/2024

Message from the President
08/15/2024

There Are Authors Among Us
08/15/2024

Villagers Welcome New Members at the Tournament Park Picnic
08/15/2024

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
08/14/2024

A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
08/13/2024

Haikus
08/13/2024

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
08/13/2024

Poem 20 by Pablo Neruda
08/13/2024

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
08/13/2024

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
08/13/2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

Creative Writing in Older Adults

By Karen L. Whitmore
Posted: 04/06/2023
Tags: karen whitmore

Creative Writing in Older Adults – by Karen Whitmore

Creativity can express itself in many ways. After reading thousands of books, and filling my brain with words, I have chosen writing as my creative expression. I like to use my words to express my ideas, thoughts, and dreams. Sometimes I write for myself - in my journal, recording the events of the day or clarifying my ideas about a subject. Sometimes I write to understand an issue or a problem, or to complain. Sometimes I daydream about future events. Sometimes I write poetry.

I have learned the value of autobiographical writing (a.k.a. journaling) from the Village's Memoir III group. This group inspired me to write about my mother. As I prepared to do so, I embarked on a search for information. My search led me to the discovery of letters and pictures, and prompted me to visit family members. As a result, I discovered in my mother a woman who was different from the one I knew as a child.

Writing autobiographically has also helped me to recognize my unique place in my family. I am sharing this history with my children and plan to leave a legacy for my grandchildren and others who come after me. Writing refreshes my recollection of forgotten things and helps me see my life in a different light.

Writing also helped me clarify my choice to move to South Pasadena from my lifelong home in Washington State. I spent many days writing to define where I wanted to live and what features I wanted in a dwelling.

Creative writing can take many forms. You can create a fictional story from your imagination. You can let your mind travel to exotic places to provide a background for your story. You can then populate the story with interesting characters based on people you have known.

To write poetry, I try to use the first hour of the day, when the world is quiet, and the images of dreams haven’t quite escaped. If you can’t draw and you can’t dance, or if you are housebound, perhaps writing a poem would satisfy your creative urges. Poems can be long or short, personal, or descriptive, rhyming or not.

In addition to providing a creative outlet, studies in the academic community (e.g., The University of Texas at Austin and the Journal of the American Society of Aging) have shown that writing may actually enhance your immune system.

Our later years provide us with the time to take a renewed interest in life. Time to get reacquainted with ourselves, time to learn new activities, to make music, to paint pictures, to write, to create poems. To meet and communicate with friends and make plans for the future. If you can’t draw and you can’t dance, or maybe you are housebound, perhaps writing a poem would satisfy your creative urges, and possibly enhance your immune system as well.

 

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