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In 2018, I started working on my doctoral thesis on ageing and social activities, targeting older people. This coincided with the time when the Moscow Longevity project was gaining momentum. The project allows Moscow retirees to attend classes featuring over 30 activities, including education, sports, leisure and art. I was impressed by the project’s scale and wide range of opportunities, which are also free of charge. Therefore, I decided to observe and collect information on its progress.

This happened in the same year that my mother retired, and she was feeling pretty upset about the change in her social status. As a daughter and a researcher of ageing-related issues, I sought to find a way to improve my mom`s mood. I decided to suggest that she attend some classes offered through the Moscow Longevity project. It was my understanding that participation in social activities might help her to improve her mood through interactions with other people and the chance to spend time on activities she likes. At first, she firmly refused to do this. However, after several weeks and my continued attempts to persuade her, she went to a local social service centre to get more information. Finally, she signed up for classes in dance, English language and yoga.

My mother had to alter her daily routine and weekly schedule to attend the classes. I was happy that she was doing this and anticipated some improvements. Although my father drove her to her dance classes, he refused to try any himself. Then, one day my mom urged him at least to come in and see how the dance class was organised. This led to my father becoming the second man in the dance group. The women significantly outnumbered the men, and this gender disproportion corresponds to those of other social activities in Moscow and regions across Russia. Unfortunately, this was and continues to be the case with the dance classes my parents attend.

My father then decided to investigate other possibilities within the Moscow Longevity project, and he subsequently enrolled in an art class He had done some drawing many years earlier but had not had the time and energy for this hobby because of his work. A few months after he started attending his classes, I received several nice paintings from my father as gifts and hung them up in my home and office. When my friends asked about my new paintings, I proudly informed them about my father's hobby and art classes. Of course, I also told my father that his works had aroused interest, which made him smile and inspired him to continue to master his skills.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdown of people aged 60 and over, and this new reality challenged the development of the project. However, even though the classes went to online formats, the participants stayed connected through messaging. After the restrictions were lifted, my parents resumed the traditional format of the classes, and they have learned new dances and performed in city competitions, representing their Moscow district. Although I had not expected my parents to participate in a city event such as this, I saw how these classes and activities improved their lives and gave them energy. Furthermore, their communication with other class participants has increased, and they have started to organise informal meetings that include homemade food and singing. Such gatherings are rooted in the Russian traditions that my parents` generation adopted from their parents. These meetings also provided a stimulus for my father to try to recall his skills in playing the guitar. I became the first audience for my parents’ musical band. They now participate not only in Moscow Longevity project dance events but also in singing and guitar playing performances.

Thus, I have had the unique opportunity to observe the impacts of social activities on my parents. I see them interacting with other Moscow retirees, participating in city events and concerts, performing on the stage and being busy with hobbies they enjoy but used only to dream of doing. The value of social activities for people of all ages, perhaps especially older individuals, has increased in my eyes and raised for me the question of the hierarchy of people’s needs. Self-actualization, personal development and social interaction are clearly more important than I had previously thought.