I sometimes feel as if my creative neural pathways are starting to calcify. I have a theory that our brains "calcify" as we age if we are not mindful. Perhaps not in terms of actual calcium deposits, but in that we lose the flexibility of thought required to adapt to new situations or think in new and creative ways. We become rigid and "set in our ways" unable to change or adapt.
One of the saddest things I ever witnessed was the behaviour of a polar bear in Vancouver's Stanley Park zoo. The bear slowly completed a circuit around the enclosure, jumping into the water, swimming to the other side, pulling itself out, sauntering back around to the other side over and over and over again in an almost trance like state.
I can become mentally confined and fall into repetitive patterns. Just like I need to move to maintain flexibility in my body, I need to keep my brain active to maintain flexibility in thinking. I can do this by reading, writing, conversation and playing - games and music. That's how I can avoid creative calcification.
(Photo by DAVIDCOHEN on Unsplash)