Doing art keeps the brain young - CBS News

A friend of mine retired from a university professorship about two years ago. He had been paid well for decades, waited until he was in his 70s to give up teaching, had invested astutely in real estate and stocks all along, and he is as a result worth many millions. Nowadays, he evidently spends a lot of time at home, alone, watching television, and worrying about whether he retired too early. In short, though the did a great job in cultivating his financial portfolio, he failed to similarly develop hobbies and interests along the way. Now he feels bored and lost. His situation came to mind when my mother forwarded me a link to a CBS News story, covering recently announced research results in a neurology medical journal, that documents how creative hobbies – specifically artistic pursuits – stave off dementia during the aging process. Over the years, quite a number of artbreak™ participants have enlisted with us in anticipation of retirement. They are like my retired professor friend, except that they have decided to try their hands at our arts immersion workshops to see whether they cannot stir up a habit that will last them in years to come. The happy fact is, this seems to happen, more often than not. Doing art keeps the brain young