CBC radio was playing in the background as Mary and I departed one of our favourite watering (coffee) holes after an unhurried morning of lattes, cinnamon buns and newspaper reading. It is something we try to do on my alternating days of leisurely retirement with days of part-time work. It is a time to simply enjoy each other’s company uninterrupted by the busyness of everyday responsibilities.

I was not paying much attention to the details of the program, preferring instead to pay attention to my driving, given the current campaign to crack down on distracted drivers. The commentator was critiquing the work of an individual of obviously creative distinction. My ears perked up when I heard him question if this person was constrained or liberated by his work.

I find it to be a very relevant question. Admittedly, I did not immediately pull over the curb to sit and think about it. I kept it in the back of my mind for later as I kept my eyes and ears tuned to the road.

My first thoughts have gone to how it might apply to aging, and specifically creative aging, a current interest of ours. Are we constrained or liberated by our age?

More specifically, how are we constrained and liberated by our age? How might creative pursuits liberate us from the constraints of aging?

There is a growing body of evidence indicating that living a more creative life is liberating despite the constraints accompanying aging. In fact, being creative in our aging implies taking advantage of the liberties that come with aging. Alternatively, the decline associated with aging emphasizes the constraints.

Apart from aging and its creative transformation, just about anything anyone does can probably be de-constructed according to constraints and liberations. A person only has to be old enough to understand the question and to be sufficiently curious about the answer.

I am old enough to understand the question. It provides a simple and succinct frame for an answer that has left me in a state of curiosity. I find curiosity to be enlivening, energizing and healthy.

It seems that the later years are a particularly relevant time to do this kind of personal, internal audit. The traditional view of aging makes clear the constraints.

The more current focus on the unrealized creative potential of older people is a kind of senior liberation movement that might make Gloria Steinem proud. She, of course, now fits in the demographic.

Hey...“seniors’ lib”! What constraints will we burn?