As part of my recent experience of being an online writer in residence (OWR) for Autumn Voices, I was invited, along with my fellow OWRs to deliver a presentation at a round table event in Stirling. Autumn Voices is a Scottish-based organisation, founded by the late Robin Lloyd-Jones in 2017, that seeks to celebrate creativity in later life. Everyone aged 60 and over are welcome, and the aim is to dispel many of the negative stereotypes associated with getting older. The focus instead is on positive ageing and the tonic provided by creativity in later life.

As ever, public speaking is a daunting task, but I was delighted to be in the company of Ken Cockburn and the Board of Autumn Voices, Mark Cunningham, our communications wizard, and the wonderfully warm and talented Moira Forsyth, Sukhema and Anna Levin. The audience were so generous and supportive- it all made the task so much easier!

For this blog post, I will attempt to put down some of my thoughts on the theme of ‘letting go’ and on creative ageing in general. I have no idea what came out of my mouth on the day! I was vaguely aware at the end that I hadn’t consulted my notes as much as I should have, which is never a good sign!

The theme of “letting go” opened up an unexpectedly rich and generous conversation, not only with my fellow OWRs but also with workshop participants and those in the audience; the recognition that, over a lifetime, we accumulate more than memories: we gather objects, identities, habits, bodies, stories and emotional cargo.

For me, the theme became personal through my own creative practice and my work with charities. It set the tone for a sequence of workshops that invited participants to consider what we carry, what we release and what we grow into.

Workshop 1: Letting Go of What We Carry

My first workshop asked participants to think about material objects they hold dear and to imagine what it might cost to lay them down. These were not simply exercises in decluttering; they were invitations to examine attachment, memory and the emotional charge held in everyday things.

Workshop 2: Letting Go of the Body We Once Had

The second workshop invited people to reflect on the body they once had and the lives that had shaped them. Using landscape as metaphor, participants described the passage of time through water, gardens and wild places, creating vivid images of who they had been and how they had arrived at the present moment.

Workshop 3: Letting Go Into Who We Have Become

The final workshop turned towards ritual and transformation. Participants even made “spell poems”, an approach that may sound unusual on paper, but in the room became playful, moving and completely alive. The focus shifted from loss to becoming: not simply what we let go of, but who we allow ourselves to become next.

A Courageous and Creative Response

As ever, I am grateful for the way participants welcomed me as a facilitator and how courageous they were in stepping up to the creative challenges. Their openness made the work easy and fulfilling and reminded me that creativity is always a two-way street.

I was bowled over not only by the technical skill and creative confidence in the room, but by the willingness of participants to address difficult personal topics in verse and prose. Whether they were writing fiction or personal recollection, the wealth of experience was unmistakable.

And this is where ageing becomes a superpower. There is no substitute for the richness of lived experience. To witness it, listen to it and be even a small part of it is enriching for the reader, the listener and the wider audience. Creativity brings us together as humans – across ages, stories and all the things we learn, eventually, to let go of.

Thanks again to Ken and the Board of Autumn Voices for all the good they do and for letting me be a part of it all.

The ‘Letting Go’ anthology, a wonderful testament to the creative endeavours of our workshop participants.

_{Image credit: ‘The Jump’ by Louise Humphrey}