It's hard to feel fresh and creative when you're up to your elbows in caregiving, or someone just chewed you a new backside over some transgression. Neglecting your creative side seems like the "right" thing to do. Like most senior women, you get tons of work done. But your mind gets stale and you're stuck in a rut.

Our right brain - the side that controls creativity - is where we process new and unique ideas.

You don't have to paint or throw a perfect pot to use your creative bent. You need a get-in-touch mindset. Like this: Focus your whole attention on the task at hand.

There's a book called "Remember; Be Here Now." (http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/ramdass/talkback.html) Ram Dass, a sixties guru, wrote it and he nailed the basis of the creative process. Be in the moment. Put away thoughts about dinner, next week's deadline and tomorrow's impending crises.
Like meditating. Quiet your mind. Do your thing, whatever that is right now, exploring deep inside that thing. What's in there to be learned?

If quiet is tough for you, or you're mind is stormy and scattered, what the Zen people call a "monkey mind," explore some of the excellent creativity workbooks in book stores.

Two that pushed my buttons are (http://www.themuseisin.com/)The Nine Modern Day Muses by Jill Badonsky and (http://www.spiritualdoodles.com/) Spiritual Doodles and Mental Leapfrogs[ by Katherine Q. Revoir.

Totally stuck and suffering writers' block, along with mild bouts of terminal blues, I needed something therapeutic. Half an hour in the bookstore put me in front of both books. Their covers summoned me. Now, I wallow in the pages. I swear, the most serious pragmatic will giggle and play through the activities. Silly is good. Very good.

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Maryan Pelland is a freelance writer who creates and edits (http://aginggrandparents.suite101.com) Aging and Frandparenting at Suite 101.