BeadLinks.com
Bead Links on The Net Find Bead Links for Bead Stores Around the World
 | |
| |
 |
BeadLinks.com Home | Directory of Craft & Hobby Articles | Browse Craft & Hobby Articles from the Top | The Down The Street Bead Show Articles on Artistic Creativity |
|
|
|
Dancing On Your Brain: The Cha-Cha Effect
My grandmother used to say that the secret to living a good life is maintaining a flexible spine and a flexible mind. Whether we're talking about joints or brains, there's just no room for rigidity. Mark Twain once made a comment that illustrates my grandmother's idea perfectly. He said: "It is discouraging to try to penetrate a mind like yours. You ought to get it out and dance on it. That would take some of the rigidity out of it." That's exactly what we need to do in order to be open to new ideas. We've got to take our brains out and dance on them! Do the twist. Do a little clogging. Tap. Cha-Cha. Shake it like a Polaroid picture. We all know people whose brains we'd like to flamenco. And if we're honest, we'll admit to needing to have our own brain danced upon from time to time. It's not that we set out to be rigid. We establish certain thinking patterns and we build whole belief systems that may or may not serve us well. At some point, we get complacent, lazy, or just plain clueless about the boxes we've built for ourselves. We humans have an interesting way of hanging on to old thoughts and beliefs. We end up with a cupboard full of ideas past their shelf life-unexamined, unused, but still taking up space. Our thoughts become incredibly repetitive as certain cues pop up in the course of the day. Let's say that every morning, you listen to the news, full of turmoil and despair, and it reminds you that you're not sure if you want to have a child with so much uncertainty in the world. Then you get in the shower and get ready for work, and as you look in the mirror, you realize you aren't getting any younger, and maybe you'd better make that decision to have kids now while you still can. And then, as you drive to work, you pass a school, and you calculate how old you'll be when your child is the same age as the students you see. Then you get to the office and wonder how you'd be able to juggle work and a family at the same time. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Every single day. That's just one example. There are many. It could be about your job, your weight, your relationships-you know the top ten things on your own mental list. No matter what you're facing in life, you have cues that bring it up for you again and again. You thought about it yesterday, you're thinking about it today, and you're going to think about it again tomorrow. What if you did some applied thinking? Not just that casual sort of obsessing you do daily, but serious applied thought? We need to learn how to think more efficiently and effectively. Dr. Edward de Bono is a former Rhodes scholar who was on the faculty at Cambridge, Oxford, and Harvard universities. He is considered the world's foremost authority on creative thinking. Okay, the guy's brilliant. But the cool thing about de Bono is that he wasn't interested in revealing his method only to those who breathed the rarified air of the world's finest universities. He was passionate about developing a way to teach creative thinking that was so simple even a five-year-old could benefit from it. He coined the term "lateral thinking" and set about developing clear, visual ways to enhance the way we think. He uses the image of a car. Just because you're in a good, quality car does not mean you are a good driver. You must learn how to drive. Some people are better than others, but everyone can acquire a reasonable amount of skill. You must have the desire to learn and spend time practicing. Once you become good at it, it's easy and enjoyable. De Bono believes that good thinkers aren't born-they're made. He says there are two dangerous fallacies: that if you're intelligent, you don't need to do anything about your thinking, and that if you have a more humble intelligence level, there's nothing you can do about your thinking. De Bono inspires us to develop a broad view. The broader your knowledge base, the better your thinking. De Bono actually came up with the phrase, "think outside the box"--but don't hold that against him! It remains a clear image and a permanent part of our language because it immediately conveys the concept of stepping out of our regular patterns. Do your own lateral thinking to see where it leads. When you find yourself stuck in your thoughts-of-the-day cycle, go wide. Jump the track. Consciously take your thoughts in a new direction. Decide on a certain cue-say, whenever you look in the mirror and notice wrinkles or gray hair-and instead of your usual "I'm-getting-so-old" lament, picture yourself with white hair and crinkly eyes. Imagine the things you'll be doing when you're old. Escape into a reverie of the dreams you see coming true and the loving friends and family surrounding you. Stop dreading the process and focus on that brilliant 85-year-old who will be amazing and amusing everyone. Your bones need lateral motion, and so does your brain. You can walk for miles and miles, but unless you add some sideways action, you're grinding your hipbones in their sockets. Linear thought will get you where you think you want to go, but you will have missed out on tremendous opportunities for gaining perspective. You're going to keep on thinking until the day you die. Why not be a bit intentional about it? Pick your cue, and engage in a full-on effort to replace a repetitive thought cycle with an interesting new twist. Take your brain out to dance in this daring new direction.Flex and stretch it at every opportunity. Feel it becoming more limber, supple, and--why not?--sexy. Cha-cha-cha, Grandma! Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse in Portland, Oregon. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she teaches fun and effective eyes-wide-open alternatives to meditation. To subscribe to her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage, please visit http://www.MassageYourMind.com
MORE RESOURCES:
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Telling It Like It Is (Or Can Be) When you hear, "tell me a story," does your mind suddenly go blank? Don't panic. The good news is, you're already a natural storyteller! Surprised? You shouldn't be. Why Teach Thinking? Why Not ? The word 'creativity' has so many diverse meanings and interpretations. I remember telling an audience of teachers that creating a mess is also creative as long as new things and views are being conjured up. Should You Quit Your Job for Your Dream? The next time you're moodily sitting in your office, wishing you were living your dream instead, answer the following questions? or answer them now! They'll give you a sense of whether or not now's the time to make the break.My job is making me crazy; so crazy I'd do anything to quit. Unleash Your Creativity and Think Your Way Out of the Box The brain is a strange organ. It works in ways we don't yet understand and manages to create everything we see. Finding A Little Adventure I have had more than my share of exciting times and I'm grateful for every one of them.There was the time the bear came into camp at 11:00 p. Creativity Management - Sustainability through Passion Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. Shyness - Another View We are all born shy, aren't we? When we see little children clinging to their parents, hiding behind Mom or Dad, we are reminded about the shyness of first coming into this World. As this early stage of our life we are not ready to be seen just yet. 12 Ways To Boost Your Creativity At Work As workplaces continue to rightsize and downsize, we all find ourselves doing more with less. How do we stay ahead of the workload while staying sane? The key is to put your creativity to work for you so you can do more with less and shine like never before. Who Wants To Be A Creative Genius? Can You Learn Creativity?Have you ever watched Robin Williams do a stand-up routine? Could so much creativity and spontaneity result from a highly organized approach? Definitely. Wild and funny thoughts don't come from nowhere. Dancing On Your Brain: The Cha-Cha Effect My grandmother used to say that the secret to living a good life is maintaining a flexible spine and a flexible mind. Whether we're talking about joints or brains, there's just no room for rigidity. Connect with Your Muse Lately I've been discussing how to thrive as a creative artist by connecting with different things. I thought it might be helpful to begin this article with some distinctions. Creativity Management - Collaboration NOT Competition Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. How To Discover Hidden Talents Within You And Begin Appyling Them In Your Life Now Have you decided it may be time to start creating some newexcitement in your life? If you are now retired, soon to be retired, or just now reaching those "golden years" do you feel your life has become a little dull? Uneventful? Maybe even a little discouraging?After all, when you reach this period in your life, yourroutine may have changed, your energy may have dwindled and even your drive may have simply slowed down a bit. So if you are not happy with this situation what do you do about it? Well here's something to think about that could just change the whole picture. Tapping into Your Super Creative Power Do you consider yourself creative? How about super creative? Most people may not think of themselves as creative, but I believe that everyone has the potential for great creativity. They just need a little understanding and practice. Lucid Dreaming: Discover a Whole New World Did you know that all of your most cherished dreams are just a good night's sleep away?Lucid dreamers share one of the greatest secrets of modern living. They have discovered a whole new universe-a universe within. 20 Ways to Keep Your Writing Inspiration and Creativity High When stressed or blocked it is wise to make a change so thatwe don't stay in that place. Yet, many times we forget someof the simple things that we can do for ourselves, quicklyand easily to bring our inspiration back and increase ourcreativity. Creativity Management - Measurement, Benchmarking, and Improvement Contrary to common perception, creativity can be made tangible, measurable and useable. In terms of measurement, benchmarking and improvement, the first step is to decide on definitions, the second is to decide on methods of measurement and finally, to monitor each measurement for improvement. Dare to Dream Have you ever thought of this? When you were young and at school the teachers always reprimanded the dreamers - "You live on another planet", "You've got your head full of silly notions!" and the like.Then we are in the playground. How To Increase Creativity... Set Deadlines! Deadlines are something all of us face from time to time. We face deadlines whenever we set even a small goal and commit to accomplish it. Mindfulness and Teaching: Lessons From Dynamic English Back in 1983, I was hired to teach English in rural northern Japan. I had no experience teaching, and didn't speak a work of Japanese.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |