In the remake of the movie Sabrina, Julia Ormond focuses her camera on a small section of a beautiful landscape scene. Harrison Ford, wanting to impress her with the view from his window, points out she’s missing a great deal by pinpointing a small section of the scenery. Her response is something to the effect of, “Sometimes more is not better; it’s just more.”
And so it is with the Life Enrichment Center in Tampa, Florida. It caters to classes for seniors. It’s a small building with a lot of great stuff tucked away inside. Don’t be fooled by newer, bigger, prettier when it comes to the outside of a building. It’s what you get inside the door that counts.
When I first moved here, I wanted to find a place where I could dabble in a new hobby and work on it with people my own age. I stumbled upon the Life Enrichment Center and promptly signed up for Tai Chi.
This wasn’t my favorite class. We were constantly moving around the room in every conceivable direction, with no counts and no explanation. Some movements repeated; some didn’t, and all of it was made more challenging by having to crane my neck to see what she was doing when we turned to the back and she carried on behind us. I understood the sequences were supposed to mean something, but damned if I knew what it was.
About halfway through the Tai Chi classes, I also decided to learn Mah Jongg. The class met exactly two times before Covid hit.
That was the end of Tai Chi. However, our Mah Jongg instructor arranged for us to continue online.
I love this game. I’ve made new friends I can chat and laugh with and now that we’re not stuck at home, we meet each week at the Center and play Mah Jongg for a couple of hours.
Not one to do anything halfway, I also spent a small fortune on materials for a drawing class. I was horribly intimidated because of a high school art class I took where the teacher criticized everything I did. I’d decided before I got to the LEC’s first class that I had no talent. Nevertheless, I was determined to try. Even though I surprised myself by turning out decent goblets and trees and pitchers, I haven’t picked up the drawing pad in over a year now. But the whole point was to try something new and to be engaged in the world around me. I think I succeeded.
My next endeavor may (or may not) be quilting. The class is taught on a sewing machine, and I’ve always wanted to learn the old-fashioned way – every stitch by hand. Somehow the use of a sewing machine feels like cheating.
So back to that “more is not necessarily better” idea. The Life Enrichment Center may be a small building with a slightly weathered exterior, but it’s a valuable resource for seniors. This small space offers tons of value.
Other classes at the LEC include everything from creative writing to watercolor techniques, bridge to meditative doodling, beginning acrylic to chair yoga, abstract painting to beginning drawing, pastels, crochet, and even a book club.
- 9704 North Blvd., Tampa, Florida
- 813-932-0241
- http://www.lectampa.org
- Classes are very affordable, generally ranging from $6-12 dollars depending on whether you’re a member or not.
- Wheelchair accessible
Lisa Browder 
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