MSI Press Blog

  Most modern countries tend to look at aging is a time of slowing down, of loss, of not being able to do what the aging adult has always been able to do or wanted (wants) to do. Creative Aging by Vassiliadis and Romer takes a very different view -- a positive one. An award-winning book, highly recommended by leading reviewers: This timely book...is geared to help those who are at or nearing retirement creatively to plan for their upcoming years. More than a how to, this is a book that opens readers' minds to possibilities ahead. Uplifting...thought-provoking."                                                                       ...

  How Creative Aging Surprises Others — and Sometimes Even You One of the joys of creative aging is the element of surprise. People think they know who you are. They’ve slotted you into a category: your profession, your past roles, your earlier work. And then you do something that doesn’t fit the script. You write a book outside your field. You start a new project. You take up a skill no one saw coming. You reinvent yourself in plain sight. The surprise isn’t the point — but it’s a delightful side effect. There’s a special freedom in being underestimated. It gives you room to maneuver, to experiment, to create without the weight of expectation. And when the work emerges, people don’t just admire the project — they admire the audacity. Creative aging is the art of becoming unpredictable again. Not for shock value, but because you’ve earned the right to follow your curiosity wherever it leads. And sometimes, the person you surprise most is yourself. Read more posts on aging...

  Excerpt from Creative Aging (Vassiliadis & Romer) - Creative Aging’s Impact on Health Recently, one of my dance students, Sandra O’Brien, age 75, pulled me aside after class. She told me, "You know, Cheryl, a few years ago I didn't like getting older because it meant there would be so many things that I wouldn't be able to do, but since I've started these dance classes, I don't feel that way anymore. I found something I like and feel good doing no matter how old I am.”   When Sandra went in for her annual checkup, the doctor was excited by all the positive changes in her health profile. She’d lost weight, her blood pressure was lower, her balance had improved substantially and most of all, Sandra’s outlook on life had shifted. She no longer dreaded the aging process and all the negative connotations that it had presented.   Sandra has learned to embrace the years ahead and rediscover the things that made her feel good about herself years ago. She pushed me t...

Why Reinvention Belongs to Every Stage of Life Aging is often framed as a narrowing — fewer options, fewer roles, fewer adventures. But for many of us, the later decades are the first time we finally have the freedom to ask: What do I want to create now? Not what the job requires, not what the family needs, not what the world expects — but what the inner voice has been whispering for years. Creative aging isn’t about staying young. It’s about staying awake . It’s the moment when you realize that the skills you’ve spent a lifetime building — discipline, perspective, resilience, humor — are exactly the tools you need to make something new. A book. A painting. A garden. A community project. A reinvention of your own story. The culture tells us creativity belongs to the young. But the truth is that creativity belongs to the curious , and curiosity doesn’t retire. Creative aging is not a consolation prize. It’s a frontier. Read more posts on aging  HERE . post inspired by  C...