Late Bloomers & Creativity

Creativity is an act of faith

Autumn is my favorite time of year, a time for fresh starts and beginnings. I have been busy directing my creative energy in a broader direction.

Last week, I read about an 82-year-old woman who published her first novel and signed a three-book contract. Her story made me smile and gave me hope for my future in writing.

I have been writing blog posts and freelance educational articles since 2012, but I stopped in 2021 as I considered what I wanted to do with the second half of my life. I tried to embrace more creative projects but was the first to say I did not believe I was creative. Many surveys tell me I am not alone; most adults believe creativity belongs to others. I wondered why we think this: we all possess imaginations, dreams, fantasies, and unique ideas. Julia Cameron’s best-selling book, The Artist’s Way, asserts that we are all creative. In her writing and her workshops, she teaches people how to let themselves be creative. To access our creativity, we must practice it.

When I traded my conventional and predictable suburban life for an unknown future on a spot of land in the woods, my guiding force was my desire to live a creative life. I hadn’t yet defined what that looked like, and it took me a decade to slowly create a life of wonder, exploration, and creativity.

That journey involved confronting the negative beliefs that stood in my way, reminding me that I was not good enough, didn’t have the necessary skills, and wasn’t creative. I continued to journal and gained insight into why I believed these things were immutable. 

For decades, my dream has been to live a writer’s life, reading, thinking, and writing brilliant essays and books that would be well-received. But my gremlins were the inner negative voices that told me I didn’t have what it takes. My journaling practice revealed a core negative belief: I wasn’t worthy because I had a mediocre elementary education and dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade. It didn’t seem to matter that I completed both an undergraduate and graduate degree (both summa cum laude - even now, I feel the need to explain that I can be successful by including that information); I believed I was still a failed loser because I chose not to finish high school. 

The empty space of time created by retiring from paid work can be a golden opportunity to build a creative life. There are plenty of examples of older people who followed their hearts to discover their creative potential; it’s never too late. But it does require learning, practice, energy, time, dedication, mistakes, and failures. We live in a culture of immediate gratification, and we expect immediate success in what we do.

When I began to write for publication, first as a blogger and then as a freelancer, I discovered that writing is hard work. There are a lot of what writer Anne Lamott calls “shitty first drafts.” There’s a lot of time sitting in front of a computer trying to create a sentence, paragraph, or article and then revising and editing. Fear and vulnerability are often my creative companions. Showing up in my messy office each day, fighting off the many innovative ways I could procrastinate and distract my writing focus (gosh, those windows need cleaning, etc.), and sitting down for hours to write what often starts as fragmented thoughts is the hard part. Practicing this act is my creativity, and the products I produce are the rewards of my dedicated practice.

During the last months of 2023, I discovered Substack and loved the platform that has become an online channel for writers and readers. In January 2024, despite the gremlins whispering negativity into my ears, I created my own Substack site. What would I have to lose?

I should have asked, what do I have to gain? 

Nine months and 35 newsletters/essays later, I have committed to my dream of a writer’s life. I joined the Story Circle Network, a writer’s organization “where women become authors of their lives.” They offer workshops, classes, and opportunities to submit writing for online and print publication. This past Friday, I was notified that my submitted personal essay was accepted for publication in their annual anthology, Real Women Write. Though I have contracted many educational articles for publication as a freelancer, submitting personal work for selection is a different kind of vulnerability. The reality is that there is far more rejection than acceptance in freelance writing. 

Yesterday, I participated in Story Circle’s annual virtual conference, Writing from the Heart. We started with a session focused on writing about grief that left me in grateful tears, followed by sessions about character development, dialogue, imagery, and carving out time for writing. Most participants were older women, and many of the presenters began writing later in life. If you want to tell your life story, I encourage you to join Story Circle.

My experience with Substack has been positive both as a writer and reader. This month, I enrolled in a nature writing course with writer Janiesse Ray and read her newly published book about writing, Craft and Current. I discovered flash nonfiction in a three-hour workshop she offered and love it as a powerful writing structure. My mind is busy thinking about my writing, showing up in my dreams, and accompanying me on my walks. My opportunity and potential are limited only by me. It’s an exciting journey to begin.

The other night, an acquaintance I hadn’t seen for a while asked me what I was doing. When I responded that I was writing about the journey of aging, he immediately reacted negatively, saying, “No, don’t think about getting older. It’s just a mindset. Be more positive.” For him, the words aging and old conjure up negative images and emotions.

I disagree. This last half of our lives can be filled with wisdom, appreciation, opportunity, and creativity. Yes, there are challenging issues and realities, but that is the stuff of life. 

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. Anais Nin

I am so grateful you are here, reading my writing and commenting. I am planning my writing topics for Fifteen Years and Counting…and would like your feedback on what you want to read here. Would you take a few minutes to answer my reader survey? Select as many responses as you want.

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I would like to hear from you about your creative activities. Do you find more freedom and energy to pursue them as you age? Do you have gremlins that whisper negative beliefs into your mind?