Bobbi O’Hare had always dreamed of learning to draw, paint, and create pieces of art. But between being a Mom and pursuing her career, she never found she had enough time to let her creative flag fly. Plus, there was the intimidation factor that comes with trying something new for the first time. All that changed when Bobbi entered retirement.
“I literally said one day, ‘I will not spend my old age vacuuming,'” Bobbi laughed. “I looked around and realized I had the time for the first time in my whole life to devote to art, and it was so exciting. There’s a freedom you don’t expect to come from retirement.”
Bobbi found an art class in her hometown and mustered up the courage to try it for the first time.
“Everybody says ‘Oh, I can’t do art. I’ve never done it,'” Bobbi explained. “But you show up in an art class and it all just releases. It’s like, ‘Oh, let me let this go, whatever this feeling is,’ because it’s a no judgment zone in an art class.”
Creative expression is one of the keys to a healthy and happy life as we age. Creativity doesn’t just mean art. While it’s painting that fuels Bobbi O’Hare’s fire, for others it might be photography, playing music, quilting, cooking, or shopping for a new outfit that gets their creative gears turning.
“I enjoy painting silly because I’m not afraid to be silly. For so many years I didn’t let myself be silly and crazy,” Bobbi shared.
“Bobbi, like many of the people who come to my class is a real firecracker and she showed up with a lot of energy,” said Laurie Edwards, who teaches the art class at Suntan Art Center in South Florida.
“I definitely believe we all are creative beings in one way or another,” Edwards continued “Art and creativity, it’s a very meditative opportunity and it really turns on all these things in your brain to just spend some time in that space playing with colors and shapes and not necessarily having to get tied down to things.”
“Suddenly you’re looking at every watercolor a lot closer,” Bobbi said. “You’re paying attention, suddenly your eyes are opened up to how art works in everything we use. It’s everywhere.”
Bobbi loved her art class so much that not even an act of nature could stop her from finding ways to pursue her passion.
“My car was totaled in a hurricane,” Bobbi shared. “So I decided to start using Uber. I can get in the car to a new art class with a ride.
“You’d think that’d be such a tragedy because I loved my little car and it got totaled, but a lot of things have become easier. I’m glad I don’t have a car. It’s taken a lot of stress from my life,” Bobbi exclaimed.
Many Medicare Advantage flex plans can now be used on Uber rides and deliveries, completely changing the healthcare industry and giving more freedom and autonomy to older adults, just like Bobbi.
“With the insurance paying for it, you can go anywhere you want to go in an Uber,” Bobbi said. “I actually can even get my prescriptions and medicine delivered by Uber too.
“My doctor is kind of far away from me, it’s too much stress for me to drive like that and that long. So Uber helps me tremendously, it’s a wonderful thing.”
Her advice to others is simple. Find what you love to do and embrace it with open arms, no matter your age.
“Get up, get up, get out. It doesn’t have to be art,” Bobbi urges. “Whatever you’re thinking is scaring you or stopping you, really just let it go. Let it go and jump up and go, ‘I can do this, I can do this!'”
