I have racked my brain on many occasions to come up with creative ideas, but some days, I just can't think. I used to think that it was because I was tired, but now I really think that alot of it has to do with age. I used to be a floral designer for almost 10 years and I could whip together a design in minutes, now I find that it takes me a little longer to gather my thoughts. Are my cognitive skills suffering because of my age? I have to say that I know that I want to say somethinng or do something, but I feel that whatever it is, its lost in my brain somewhere. I often times just chalked it up to my ADD, but now I just think its an aging brain. I read in
Aging and Creativity where Denney 1990, has stated, "The cognitive processes underlying the exploration stage, involving conceptual shifting, and hypothesis testing, show a similar decline with age." In the article, it states that older adults usually rely on the first idea, because they have a more difficult time coming up with a multitude of creative ideas. But, it does go on to say, that older adults have more original ideas because of their extensive knowledge that they've acquired over the years as opposed to the younger generation. It kind of doesn't make sense, because in one respect its saying that older adults have a more difficult time in coming up with creative ideas, but then it says that they have more knowledge to come up with original ideas. It's alittle confusing to say the least. I know that I have the knowledge, I just feel like I've hit that road block and I don't know what to do to get it going again. I would also add. that I think sometimes when there's too many distractions they can sometimes be a detriment to the creative process. I find diffculty even writing my thoughts down in this blog because I'm thinking about what I have to do tomorrow. I have thought about taking medicine for my ADD, because maybe that would help me to focus a bit more. I know that drugs aren't always the answer, but I'm extremely frustrated by my lack of creative output. I know that I have the ability to do something great, I just don't know what that is.
Karen
DENNEY, N. W. (1990). Adult age differences in traditional and practical problem solving. In E. A. Lovelace
(Ed.),
Aging and cognition: Mental processes, self awareness and interventions (pp. 329-349).
New York: Elsevier Science Publishers B. V. (North-Holland).
I can identify completely and I would take that article -- which *is* confusing -- with a huge dose of salt. I am 54 and have severe ADD and am nonetheless enjoying my exploration of how my brain works now. I would invite you to reject arguments that the shifting landscape of our brains as we age is a matter of decline. That is a perspective that lends superiority to youth, an outlook our culture really needs to overcome.
ReplyDeleteI find that "my landscape is broader". my mind travels back over a half century of experiences when I am processing input and/or congealing my own original output. Thus we bring more to the table!!
With regard to the ADD I've also considered meds but, you know what? I realized I actually like my ADD and that there are ways to "manage" it in order to get things done. ADD is the ability to think in multi-dimensional ways. I don't think I want to mess with chemicals (which are medically contra-indicated for me anyhow) to make myself more linear. No thanks.
Things that work for me:
1. I've moved my desk near a window that has a far view. When I find myself doing 85 things at once on the computer, or just staring at the screen paralyzed because there are 85 voices talking about 170 things in my head, I remove my gaze from the screen (or the book, or the paper I'm writing on) and focus very far away out the window. I let all thoughts stream through my head without trying to listen to them (i.e., I don't get attached to the stories that are happening all at once in there). I simply look at the sky or the clouds and all the thoughts become a sort of instrumental music, and then they all calm down. Then I remind myself of the one thing I had sat down to do and go back to it. Works great.
2. I have found that playing music while I'm working is very very helpful. Sometimes its classical, sometimes jazz. Sometimes i need heavy metal (NOT a favored type of music for me, but this is not a matter of listening to music for enjoyment, it's a matter of creating an external soundtrack ... helps keep the internal processes on track)
3. If the music & window trick are not working, I stand up and leave my desk. This is NOT a failure!! I move around a bit. I wash the dishes in the sink, or walk my dogs, or whatever. Then I sit down again, spend a few moments to regroup my thoughts, and when the reason I sat down again is very clear to me i step back into the work i'd been doing at my desk.
I hope some of this might be useful to you. The mind of ADD is highly exploratory. It doesn't "fit the mold" of the more building-block, lock-step approach to thinking and doing that we have been taught is "the right way" to get things done. The older i get the less i care about the right way.
I am enjoying myself!
I'm 68 and with Ilyse on this.... taking that article with a 50# bag of road sale. "85 voices talking about 170 things in my head" sure sounds familiar. I read somewhere about the ADD wired brain being naturally digital in an analog education system.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time I see age cohorts and younger settling into / settling for states free of intellectual disruption. Age may be part of it but not all: more like increasing inclination to follow paths of least resistance (probably always there at some level)
My brain does seem to be operating differently than it used and for all I know may be getting more ADD with age. Ilyse's observations are most encouraging. Now I can't help looking forward to where it will take me.