Quote of the Day - 2/23/2012

Here, write it, or it will be erased by the wind. - Isabel Allende in Of Love and Shadows: A Novel

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The ephemeral ‘it’ captured in writing thereby becoming something longer lasting and sharable across space and time. 

Have you ever noticed that you remember better if you take notes during a lecture/presentation or jot down a few sentences about something you did? It is certainly true for me even if I don’t look at what I wrote ever again. There is something about the physical act of writing that aids memory or learning. It is the bulwark against erasure ‘by the wind.’

Quote of the Day - 2/3/2012

Newborns are like cats, they have no emotions and no memory. - Isabel Allende in Daughter of Fortune: A Novel (P.S.)

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Newborns and cats…maybe it isn’t exactly that they have ‘no emotions and no memory.’ Maybe those things are just reduced enough that we perceive the difference and/or the difference is magnified by inability to communicate effectively.

We watch our newborns for signs of developing emotions and memory. I remember years ago watching my baby in REM sleep. She made a series of facial expressions from smiling to frowning in her sleep; she was practicing the emotional feedback our faces provide to each other. A few days later she smiled at me and her father for the first time. It was a milestone both for showing emotions and memory.

Our indoor cats have bursts of emotion (cat fights, acceptance of short duration cuddles with lots of purring), but most of the time seem very self-contained, even introverted. Clearly they are dependent on their ‘people’ but they are intent on not acknowledging it any more than absolutely necessary. They are very stoic almost to the point of not showing any emotion most of the time. And on the memory front - our cats have been known to re-discover an old toy and play with it as if it was ‘new to them’ even though they played with it the same way just yesterday.

How endearing newborns and cats are - even without emotions and memory!

A Surprise in Every Day

The old proverb for physical health

'an apple a day keeps the doctor away'

has a parallel saying for creative/mental health which goes

'a surprise a day makes for an interesting life.'

What I mean by that is that if your life has a few things that are unexpected you will never be bored for long.  Make an effort to notice anything that is different than you expect. It will 

• Increase your focus on the present
• Prompt associations which lead to
  • Creative bursts - sometimes extreme
  • Memories of similar situations
  • Linkages that are new to you
• Open another path into the future 

Here are a few of my recent 'surprises' - 

• I discovered that the panel below the sink in my bathroom actually opens up and there is a bin there for toothpaste and other sundries. I’ve lived in the house for over 15 years and had never used it! I promptly put some things that had been on the counter into the new found space.
• Chia seeds. I remembered the chia pets from years ago but was surprised when I read a about the seeds being edible and highly nutritious. I’m now trying a tablespoon a day for a month. The second surprise was how good they taste even just rehydrated in water. Will they work as a substitute for poppy seeds in muffins? Hmm…an experiment for another day.
• At the grocery store I noticed that there were only 2 types of people shopping at mid-morning on a Friday: the group about my age that was leisurely shopping and parents with children that had come in for a single purpose. There were several surprises in that observation:
  • Why weren’t the children in school? (I found out later that it was a day off between quarters for some schools)
  • Are there more people like me (happily and newly free of the M-F work week) than I realized?
• As I drove through the light rain this morning, I thought about how much like dusk is looked with the thick clouds and the trees in silhouette. The surprise as I scanned the scene was a hawk in the top of a tall tree. I’m happy that hawks are around in the area where I live; I enjoy having the rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks too; it’s good to have the balance. 

Have your enjoyed your moments of serendipity today?