Brain Health: Keeping your brain active

I've decided that neural plasticity is the key. We need to find challenges that keep the mind engaged. I'm in my mid sixties now, and about thirty years ago I went through a particularly challenging time when I got seriously depressed, had panic attacks, and my life was in a downward spiral.

To cut a long story short, it occurred to me then that what I wanted to do was "get my life back the way it was" which seemed so difficult it veered on impossible. So I asked myself why I was so attached to a need to return to values and interests that didn't really seem to serve me.

I looked at the things I was scared of in life, and the things I found uninteresting, too challenging, or boring, and I began to visit them in a different light. My idea was to "recreate" myself - taking the idea of recreation quite literally - and decided that play was something that had been missing in my life for too long.

I looked at things that scared me, such as heights, water, and poverty, and I deliberately challenged myself with each. First, I did a parachute jump. It terrified me, of course, and I could barely speak once it was over, but I can remember a real sense of some kind of internal engagement with a part of me that had dissociated, perhaps from childhood. Next, I learned to SCUBA dive, initially in the cold waters of The English Channel, but later would night dive off an island in Belize, and a couple of years ago I dove in The Gulf of Thailand.

So challenge stayed with me. In 2019, at age 63, I rode a motorcycle across India. It seemed about as daring a thing as I could do. (Incidentally I left the UK for the US in 1997, aged 40, with just $350, a guitar and a suitcase, no credit cards, no green card, and knew nobody - I survived!)

Now I'm doing a degree in Psychology, studying neuroscience on the side, learning drums, and am working on being ambidextrous, as I have a theory about how the circuitry of the body and brain work dependent on handedness. My venture into left handedness seems to be yielding some really interesting things that I hope to document at some point. I play chess, am poised to take up piano (again I think that music and the use of two hands working in coordination are essential for really exploring neural plasticity)

But the key is challenge. Do things that scare you, that are physically demanding or mentally challenging. Ask yourself why the things you find boring are things others find interesting, and then take them up. Question who you are, why you like what you do, and find something else and explore that. Wear clothes you wouldn't normally be seen dead in, or clothes you've always wanted to but never dared. Challenge who you are, and see what happens.

This is my take on how to survive aging.

Yes, I’m a “COVID” painter too!
My creations are generally abstract, and just plain strange. I love each one

I've decided that neural plasticity is the key. We need to find challenges that keep the mind engaged. I'm in my mid sixties now, and about thirty years ago I went through a particularly challenging time when I got seriously depressed, had panic attacks, and my life was in a downward spiral.

To cut a long story short, it occurred to me then that what I wanted to do was "get my life back the way it was" which seemed so difficult it veered on impossible. So I asked myself why I was so attached to a need to return to values and interests that didn't really seem to serve me.

I looked at the things I was scared of in life, and the things I found uninteresting, too challenging, or boring, and I began to visit them in a different light. My idea was to "recreate" myself - taking the idea of recreation quite literally - and decided that play was something that had been missing in my life for too long.

I looked at things that scared me, such as heights, water, and poverty, and I deliberately challenged myself with each. First, I did a parachute jump. It terrified me, of course, and I could barely speak once it was over, but I can remember a real sense of some kind of internal engagement with a part of me that had dissociated, perhaps from childhood. Next, I learned to SCUBA dive, initially in the cold waters of The English Channel, but later would night dive off an island in Belize, and a couple of years ago I dove in The Gulf of Thailand.

So challenge stayed with me. In 2019, at age 63, I rode a motorcycle across India. It seemed about as daring a thing as I could do. (Incidentally I left the UK for the US in 1997, aged 40, with just $350, a guitar and a suitcase, no credit cards, no green card, and knew nobody - I survived!)

Now I'm doing a degree in Psychology, studying neuroscience on the side, learning drums, and am working on being ambidextrous, as I have a theory about how the circuitry of the body and brain work dependent on handedness. My venture into left handedness seems to be yielding some really interesting things that I hope to document at some point. I play chess, am poised to take up piano (again I think that music and the use of two hands working in coordination are essential for really exploring neural plasticity)

But the key is challenge. Do things that scare you, that are physically demanding or mentally challenging. Ask yourself why the things you find boring are things others find interesting, and then take them up. Question who you are, why you like what you do, and find something else and explore that. Wear clothes you wouldn't normally be seen dead in, or clothes you've always wanted to but never dared. Challenge who you are, and see what happens.

This is my take on how to survive aging.

That is amazing. Congratulations!!
But u should thank ur lucky stars that you've had the good health and the stamina to do those things and continue doing them. Often one is not physically able to do what we'd like, impaired by disease.
Good luck and continue growing!!

Artmatters! That’s wonderful! I’m happy to hear that you are getting the glasses so you can make beautiful art.

To me a day without painting is like a “day without sunshine”. My wish for you is for lots of sunshine 🌞

Susan

Yes, I’m a “COVID” painter too!
My creations are generally abstract, and just plain strange. I love each one

Oh, that’s me! I do the same things.
My former life was just as you described yours. Now, I am single, I hate having to rush out the door in the morning. I cook for myself or not. Living alone is wonderful for me. It gives me the opportunity to get to know ME!

I paint in the afternoon for just an hour or so. It’s something that makes me happy, and after many years of endless stress I deserve to be happy!

Love this! Unfortunately I just get by barely on my income and painting supplies while probably not expensive for some is not affordable for me but I do keep busy with second hand puzzles, library books and at 77 still able to do house work and minimum yard work so lots to stay busy at but I’ve always been intrigued with one day painting even though I can’t draw a decent stick figure 😀

Love this! Unfortunately I just get by barely on my income and painting supplies while probably not expensive for some is not affordable for me but I do keep busy with second hand puzzles, library books and at 77 still able to do house work and minimum yard work so lots to stay busy at but I’ve always been intrigued with one day painting even though I can’t draw a decent stick figure 😀

Love this! Unfortunately I just get by barely on my income and painting supplies while probably not expensive for some is not affordable for me but I do keep busy with second hand puzzles, library books and at 77 still able to do house work and minimum yard work so lots to stay busy at but I’ve always been intrigued with one day painting even though I can’t draw a decent stick figure 😀