Back in July, I was invited to be a guest on Beyond Artist Block a therapy podcast by Rachel Moore LMFT, to talk about a group I created called Ageism and the Creative Professional. I then asked Alyce Waxman, who co-facilitated and co-developed the group with me, to join us. Initially, because I was terrified to do it alone, but really it was because I love Alyce who is so smart and funny and wise.
We started out the podcast by talking about what is ageism and how it is the last acceptable “ism”. Ageism disproportionally effects the creative fields. For many mid-life creatives it’s a slow career death, with jobs coming in less and less. As the jobs ebb away, you can feel less relevant, a sense of shame and/or a loss of identity.
We talked about the importance of community for everyone but especially for creatives. Creatives need to be seen; their art needs an audience for it to have meaning. As Alyce puts it “…One of the things that’s so important about being a creative is that, like, supercharged moment when one creative connects with another creative”.
And… we talked about how much we loved our group! The group really supported and mentored each other in a beautiful way. We had a real mix of creative disciplines including writing, acting, painting, and creative direction. Our members felt inspired to start new projects and finish old projects and even shared projects with us in session. We talked about how the creative process and making art contributes to our sense of self and well-being, and I think everyone felt a little less alone in the world. We hope to be starting it up again in 2024 and will put the word out when we do.
And lastly, I ended by saying “For me it’s about always finding your truth as an artist and staying in touch with who you are because that will always bear fruit, you will always, if you connect with yourself, connect to other people”.
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