My Black is NOT Cracking.

I saw the coolest thing on Instagram the other day. There’s a place in NYC called The Happy Medium. It’s an arts club. Not a gallery. An actual club for creativity.

They offer workshops in pottery, painting, drawing.  You can even learn how to build a damn chair or a lamp. You choose from a menu of creativity. Instead of ordering food or drinks, you order art experiences. That idea alone stopped me in my scroll.  I’ve written about this before, but I feel so strongly about the benefits of expressing creativity, that I’m revisiting the topic. Perhaps I needed the reminder!

Visiting the Happy Medium’s website immediately took me back about twenty years to when I was living in downtown LA. I walked into the art supply store around the corner and bought paints and supplies, even though I hadn’t painted since a watercolor class a decade earlier, before that, in high school. In the early ’90s I’d picked up pencils and drawn a bit, but outside of writing (which I had just begun) my only consistent creative outlet was in the kitchen. And yes, they’re called the culinary arts for a reason.

My paintings weren’t very good. But I loved painting. I was drawn more to collage, though I never quite got around to it. Last year I even took an online collage course, but life did what life does, and I never really started.

What I did discover, over and over again, was this: whether it was writing, painting, or cooking, anything creative completely relaxed me. I would get lost in it. I’d start early in the day and suddenly realize it was dark outside. It was an escape. Not from life, but from mental noise. I was giving a part of my brain a much-needed break.

For a long time, one of the things I looked forward to when I imagined I might no longer have to work (silly me) was finally having time for creative interests. Time to actually learn how to paint and to explore collage and other mediums.

As usual, that curiosity led me once again to research the benefits of creative pursuits as we age. (Especially now, when it feels like both the current administration and AI are doing their best to squeeze the arts into irrelevance.) Unbelievable as it may seem, I wasn’t even aware of ChatGPT until I mentioned to a friend that I needed to send thank-you notes for foundation donations and he suggested I “just use ChatGPT.”

Because yes, a robot writing thank-you notes would feel so genuine. NOT.

Don’t get me wrong, technology is incredible when it assists rather than replaces. I feel the same way about how technology has nearly destroyed the music industry, replacing real musicians with computers, and now attempting to replace artists altogether. Seriously… do we really want robots in concert? Everything already sounds the same, and not in a good way. I’m grateful I grew up in an era of real art, real musicians, real music, and producers who actually produced and not just glorified computer programmers!

Okay….slight detour.

What this post is really about is this. The anti-aging benefits of engaging in and enjoying the arts, and why creativity isn’t a luxury as we get older, but a necessity.

We spend a lot of time talking about anti-aging in terms of creams, supplements, diets, and workouts. But one of the most powerful and most joyful anti-aging tools is often overlooked: participating in and enjoying the arts.

The arts don’t just make life richer. They actively help keep us younger, and not only mentally, but emotionally, and even physically.

When you engage with the arts, whether it’s painting, dancing, acting, singing, writing, playing music, attending theater, or visiting museums, your brain lights up. Multiple areas activate at once: memory, imagination, emotion, coordination, and problem-solving. This kind of stimulation helps build and maintain neural connections, which is critical as we age. In other words, the arts help keep your brain flexible, curious, and resilient.

Creativity also reduces stress and trust me, I know first-hand that stress is one of the biggest accelerators of aging. Immersing yourself in music, movement, or creative expression lowers cortisol levels, slows the nervous system, and promotes a state of flow. In that space, time softens, and worries fades. Your body and mind get a break from survival mode, which supports better sleep, improved immunity, and overall vitality.

There’s also the emotional benefit. The arts give us a place to process grief, joy, anger, love, regret, and hope!  (All the complex emotions that come with living longer.) Suppressed emotions age us. Expressed emotions heal us. Creative outlets allow us to release what we carry instead of letting it harden inside our bodies.

Social connection is another powerful anti-aging factor. Participating in the arts often brings people together for rehearsals, classes, workshops, galleries, audiences. Loneliness has been shown to age us faster than many physical conditions. The arts create community, shared experience, and a sense of belonging, all of which are essential for long-term well-being.

And then there’s identity. Aging can make people feel invisible, irrelevant, or “past their prime.” The arts push back against that narrative. They remind us that growth doesn’t stop at a certain age. You can still learn, still create, still surprise yourself. Every new skill, role, or expression reinforces the truth that you are still evolving.

Perhaps most importantly, the arts reconnect us to joy, and joy is not frivolous. Joy is regenerative. It brings lightness to the body, softness to the face, energy to the spirit. People who regularly experience joy don’t just feel younger; they look younger because they are more alive.

Anti-aging isn’t only about adding years to your life. It’s about adding life to your years.
The arts do exactly that.

So, pick up the brush or even a pen. Write a story.  Write your story. Join the dance class. Write the poem. Go to the play. Sing out loud. Your mind, body, and spirit will thank you!