“The experience of Nirvana exists in the consciousness of our right hemisphere, and at any moment, we can choose to hook into that part of our brain.” ~ Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, Neuroanatomist With the exception of the arts, our culture largely neglects and dismisses metaphoric and symbolic knowing. The field of depth psychology has [ Read more … ]
right brain
5 qualities of right-brain learning.
HEART WISDOM. Profoundly meaningful and deep. We are connected to ourselves, one another, and the earth. NON-LINEAR. The creative doesn’t move the way we expect it to move and answers don’t arrive the way we expect them to. ASYNCHRONOUS. The solutions are separate from the problem. SIMPLE. Understanding is simple and elegant. It’s not [ Read more … ]
Creative genius involves the ability to create new worlds
In an article in Newsweek “The Creativity Crisis,” Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman describe a study of people who received MacArthur genius awards. In the study, researchers discovered that MacArthur recipients spent time in their childhoods creating “paracosms,” or alternative fantasy worlds. These kids visited their fantasy worlds repeatedly, often creating their own unique languages [ Read more … ]
When you’re grieving or need to rest, work with the metaphor of ‘heavy’
As I was packing up my mother’s nursing home room after her death, I found a little heart-shaped stone that said ‘serenity’ on it. I took it back to California with me and I hold it frequently. It’s heavy, it has form, it feels soothing, and it reminds me of her. I love the weight [ Read more … ]
Do you think like an artist?
The physicist Arthur Zajonc says that our culture needs the artist’s cognitive capacities. But what is it that poets and artists do that take them beyond ordinary capacities of knowing? Perhaps it’s the artist’s willingness to be confused, welcoming any unlikely connection that shows up; or his or her sensitivity to nuance and qualities [ Read more … ]