I just got home from a magical day of exploring The Brain at the Natural History Museum, which seems to be becoming my second home these days... One of the reasons being, that one time isn't enough for me to grasp any piece of information. Shit needs to be drummed into my consciousness, over and over and over and over.... But apparently that's not just me. From what I understand, that's all of us. We have to really program information and skills into our brains for them to become automatic, or to even retain anything in long-term memory.
Throughout my life I wasn't really encouraged to think that I am intelligent. In fact, I was encouraged to think quite the opposite, partly just because I'm a woman. Unfortunately, this is the truth, even in this day and age. This last year I have started to break through that black magic and proven to myself in many ways, that my brain is capable of learning wondrous things. I am also capable of unlearning, and rewiring, which I find equally thrilling.
What I took home from the brain-exhibition was the inspiration to keep challenging myself and my brain, every day, for as long as I live. I have lost many years of my life in killing my brain cells, feeding myself useless information, watching crappy TV, reading gossipy magazines... I suppose I didn't always know that I had the capacity for better things. The good news is that now I do know better, and I have a choice!
The brain is constantly changing and evolving to fit our individual lives. It all depends on what we do with it. It's really up to us to fill our minds with thoughts and skills that we deem worthy of developing. Though it's a lot of responsibility,
I'm excited to think that our brains have endless potential--regardless of what we have been told. It's just about beginning somewhere, and staying focused, despite initial frustration. The new pathways that are formed in the brain will become stronger and more efficient with every use, and thus it all gets easier.
Here's one piece of information I am learning to absorb: "If you believe you can, you can." The pathway is already forming....
It's never too late to learn and grow! I've been on a huge self-education trip lately myself. Maybe I'm having some kind of late start to my 30s crisis or something (I'm turning 32 soonish), but whatever it is, I've been reading A LOT lately.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's totally random shit like musician bios, parallel universes (Michio Kaku's Parallel Worlds which was a total mind *uck but fascinating), evolution (Why evolution is true by Jerry Coyne), history of the business of hip-hop (The Big Payback by Dan Charnas), decision making (Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational)… See? Random, but I LOVE learning new things and okay, I might not always grasp the concept immediately, but eventually I'll get it. And with broader concepts like, you know, the universe ;) I'm okay with the fact that I'll understand virtually nothing about it no matter how much I learn in my lifetime. But I’ll never stop trying is my point... I think :)
What I've figured out so far is that I just like the figuring shit out part or "the journey", for a lack of less cliché term. It might be shit that most people have figured out long time ago, but hey, we're all on our own timetable, right? As long as we keep moving, learning, experiencing and living, hopefully we won’t turn out like those "chair people" in Wall-E who just sit around and let life happen to them ;)