DUXBURY – Henry Quinnlan quickly caught my attention with a lively presentation on how to stay creative over the years.
“We were all sometimes creative in our daily lives,” he said.
This does not require a specific artistic project or new invention. “We’re intentionally creative, thinking and doing things in ways we’ve never seen before,” said Quinnlan, 82, who has been in the publishing business for 50 years.
It’s as easy as changing your mom’s favorite recipes, adding or removing ingredients, changing cooking methods, and drawing silly poems and fun pictures for your friends’ birthdays.
Residents of Merrimack, New Hampshire brought a talk and slideshow to the Daxbury Senior Center on May 2nd, “Creativity: Helping Maintain Aged Brain and Body Health.” “”
Stay vertical ::I’m falling, but I haven’t given up on the hike. (And make at least one change.)
“Learn to be an age-killing person, not an age-killing person,” said Talk’s promotion.
While he made suggestions, talked, and showed video clips, I thought of all the elderly people I interviewed.
As their living conditions changed, they invented themselves in new ways when they retired and had a larger block of time to meet.
There was Mabel Bean of Weymouth. At the age of 92, he sat in front of the piano, took out the music, called on acquaintances who had been trapped in the house, and offered to play “uplifting music” for them. phone.
And there was a witty, angry Molly Gregory at Hingham’s New England Friends Home. So she designed a special ladder and hung it from the window in her bedroom to allow the cat Sophia to climb up and down.
Randolph’s Cola Brain, who is still riding a horse Judy at the age of 90, told me, “I have to find anything that makes people happy or comfortable.”
Milton artists Elba Proctor and Jim Fury paint and teach in the 90’s. Natalie Loomis of Marshfield kayaks at the age of 91. Family researcher Ethel Harrington Smith writes a book at the age of 90 overlooking Hull’s Bay. Elizabeth Bradford, a retired Marshfield teacher holding an English handbell concert. George Wilson and his associates have retired from the New England Telephone Company, which repaired a talking book machine for the blind.
“We all have (creativity), which is more than an artistic expression,” Quinnlan said.
He said that people who travel tend to be more creative. This includes day trips near his home. The new settings can make you “think out of the box”, and if traveling is not possible, he said think of ways to change your environment.
Other tips: Stay curious. Accept different experiences. Adapt to changing situations. Face challenges, change routines and start creativity dramatically, and thank others for it.
During the COVID shutdown, the Weymouth Senior Center Whippoorwills Choir was unable to go out and entertain in nursing homes and elsewhere. Members really missed singing together, a form of creative expression. In July 2020, Braintree leader Jim DiRocco arranged to meet at King Oak Hill Park in Weymouth to sing a socially distant song.
Quinnlan also suggested that certain qualities could prevent us from demonstrating our creativity. These include always thinking logically, being too practical, avoiding ambiguity, and worrying about what others think or be judged.
On his side, when he turned 80, he went skydiving with his granddaughter. And instead of going to a big family birthday supper for his grandchildren who felt lost in the crowd, he began the tradition of taking each grandchild to his birthday supper. rice field. It’s very popular.
“People are always trying to make you obey,” he warned. “Don’t stick to your own way. Set some goals and have a purpose to get up in the morning. It’s your own choice.”
I thought of the sweet and slightly frail older woman I saw in the Milton Senior Center program. She is at home alone, so she sometimes taught me how to get down to the garbage dump. One day she woke up depressed, and the newspaper arrived and she saw the events listed on the calendar. There was a purpose in her day. Her voice was excited when she talked about how her life got brighter when she signed up to go.
According to Quinnlan, creative older people don’t think about their age or stereotypes about aging, but they do think about their goals and aspirations. They want personal growth. They stand out and are not afraid to try something new. They can overcome self-doubt.
Daxbury’s presentation was part of the Center’s “Light Up” program, which explores a variety of lifestyles, health and wellness and is funded by the Grafton Foundation. It was launched because the pandemic made many older people feel isolated and helped bring people back to the building.
“Being creative and purposeful is part of our spiritual well-being,” said Program Coordinator Regan Rodriguez.
Mother-daughter connection:Good times: Braintree’s daughter’s teenage rebellion brings a message of hope and reconciliation
For more information on Henry Quinnlan and the programs he offers to seniors and others, please visit hmqpublisher.com.
Contact SueScheible at sscheible@patriotledger.com.
Thanks to the subscribers who helped make this coverage possible. If you’re not a subscriber, consider supporting quality local journalism with your Patriot Ledger subscription. This is our latest offer.
