We frequently look for ways to extend or improve our personal longevity.

Creative activities can help promote a healthy lifestyle in old age.

Creativity is not a “magic potion”; rather, it is an enhancement of our lives.

On a rocky slope in the White Mountains of California lives the oldest non-clonal tree in the world—a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine that (as of 2026) has been alive for 5,076 years. Ask most people to name the oldest animal ever recorded, and they might suggest a tortoise (194 years old) or a bowhead whale (~200 years old). Remarkably, the oldest recorded animal is a Quahog clam (nicknamed “Ming”) harvested off the coast of Iceland in 2007. A count of its growth rings revealed that this individual lived for 507 years. And, on August 4, 1997, Jeanne Calment of Arles, France, passed away, having lived for a total of 122 years, 164 days—the oldest authenticated human being on record.

As humans, we want to live long lives. Consequently, we invest in creams and lotions that make us appear younger, prescriptions and potions that ease our aches and pains, and practices and procedures “guaranteed” to ward off the physical and mental inevitabilities of our senior years. Which raises an interesting question (at least as far as this column is concerned): Is there a link between our embrace of a creative lifestyle and our personal longevity? Let’s take a look.

What the Research Says on Creativity and Aging

An article by Hara Estroff Marano in the June 2026 issue of Psychology Today notes that “creative pursuits have their strongest effects on the parts of the brain that are the most vulnerable to aging.” Marano cites a large international study (1,473 participants) demonstrating that “creative activities across all domains boost brain connectivity (plasticity), strengthen neural connectivity, efficiency of information........

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