Turn an Ordinary Event into an Extraordinary Adventure
Yesterday I spilled wood stain onto my counter top, and when I looked down to find a huge brown puddle splashed onto the beige granite surface, it quite frankly surprised me.
I’d been holding a paint tray next to a cupboard as I refinished its door. Images of a terrific new look my kitchen would soon sport - captured my full attention, and the fact that my counter top was being ruined at the same time - simply went unnoticed.
Our lives are shaped by images that preoccupy our minds – and our brains are rewired by the things we do in a day.
When I saw the spilled paint as a result of letting go of one part of my brain - I refocused on balancing a paint tray while I worked. It happens all the time – we let one part of the brain go – to use another part - and I am glad we’re not all holding paint trays over my counter when it happens.
An enlightened mind tends to open more parts of the brain in unified ways, and we can all learn to do it. I like to think of it as weaving together multiple intelligences that help us cope with life. It’s also a brain’s way of capturing adventure beyond the ordinary, and it can happen with any ordinary activity – even when you stain a cupboard. Think of it as a camera of sorts, that zooms in on a close-up one minute, and catches colorful images in its wider lens, the next.
Whenever we zoom in and out in synchrony with our day, we get more from the brain. Start simply by being aware of your brain’s extravagant parts - for any interest you follow. For instance … while I’m no carpenter, I do like to refresh my surroundings with art and multiple intelligences, that add more zip to what I do.
Here are unique intelligences I used:
1. Spatial intelligence helped me to choose the color and to paint evenly.
2. Kinesthetic intelligence allowed me to move - paint - and think of new blogs like this one at the same time.
3. Naturalistic intelligence kicked in when yellow finches sang to me while I painted next to a window open to their Niger Seed feeder.
4. Mathematical intelligence reminded me to number the 16 cupboard doors I removed - and to line them up in order, so they’d be easier to replace.
5. Interpersonal intelligence helped me to imagine the artistic pleasure friends will get the next time we lunch together in my cozy kitchen.
6. Intrapersonal intelligence helped me to reflect on why it’s important in a busy day – to stop and refinish cupboards for a fresher look.
7. Musical intelligence inspired my project… from classical music that moved my brainwaves while I painted.
8. Linguistic intelligence reminded me to read directions on the can’s label - as a way to get better results from the particular wood stain I used.
If you’re ever in the area… stop by and see my results. By the way, what intelligences are you using today … to turn an ordinary event into an extraordinary adventure?
Everyone knows that males can only think of one thing at a time. And, as a male, I respond with the information that this means we concentrate harder.
Considering your theory of letting one part of the brain go while we use another part, I have to ask why we don’t spend all our time spilling paint on our counters therefore. And the answer is, of course, that we have an assistant who takes care of things while we’re away doing other things. It’s name is “Habit”. We start developing habit as soon as we’re born (or even earlier) and it is essential to our existence. As an example, we soon acquire the habit of keeping our coffee mugs level as we walk from the kitchen to another room; but let us be distracted by something, a sudden memory that we intended to bring the cookie jar with us too, let us say, and we don’t tip the coffee on the floor as we turn back towards the kitchen with minds trying to remember where we hid the cookie jar last time. No, habit takes over and we keep the mug level without even being aware of it. And this happens in myriads of events every day of our lives - habit takes over and does the work for us while we concentrate on other things.
No doubt the female mind does not rely so heavily on habit, being as multi-tasking as it is. But spare a thought for us poor males who need the beast “habit” to get us through the day!
By Clive on October 10th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
Clive, you are so funny. What you call habit is so and is really the stored memories and “habits” of the basal ganglia. We all have ‘em and sometimes we use ‘em. Too much focus on one task … in the working memory can tip the paint, coffee, or memories… for some of us,
On another note, there are powerful differences between the male and female brains … especially in areas of corpus callosum. These make for delightful blogs I plan! Neither is better or worse - but oh - how different! It’s fun to see it from inside the brain. Stay tuned….
Your humor is an intellectual gift, by the way, Clive! And I’ll be blogging on that soon too:-) Thanks for stopping by.
By Ellen on October 12th, 2006 at 10:44 pm
A post about humor, hey? Very interesting. And you might like to read my take on it from a while back in my personal blog, Gone Away. Just a little something entitled Blogging With Arthur Koestler - the comments are quite funny too.
By Clive on October 13th, 2006 at 10:16 am
[…] Alvin Tofler reminded us to stay alive to creative solutions when problems strike. Going even further, Tofler warned that the illiterate of the twenty-first century will be those people who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. What one problem you do see that could draw a solution from your multiple intelligences today? […]
By What’s Your Problem? » Activating the Brains of Baby Boomers on October 27th, 2006 at 10:08 am