Tag: music

Brain Bridge Boost

Sometimes I’m amazed how fluid my thoughts are for spontaneous ideas.   Before the hostile takeover of my home/businesses, I woke up every day with some solution or new concept to implement in my wonderful work establishment.   A year after my forced evacuation, finally gained the momentum to reconnect with the creative part of my mind.    My brain was bombed with mind battering. I was chased on a dark side of life with little means to cross over.  I work on activates to build what I call my “brain bridge.”   My brain bridge connects me with the outside world, the community, my customers, my students, my creativity, sanity and safety — a part of my life as we know it — but most importantly — the new life we are building.

Here are the ways I build my brain bridge:

  • Melodious themes of notes hummm through my head in the morning.  I race to my workroom and press the point of my pencil to my manuscript paper before the moment ends.  There may be about 10 potential compositions ready for developing when I’m ready to fully concentrate on that part of my brain bridge. Music is forever helpful in building the brain.
  • Sense, observe, evaluate people, places, products, predicaments around me.  I respond and write in blogs.   My brain bridge is being built with woven words.   You, the reader are part of the process.  I’m not just writing to tap away at a keyboard.  I’m writing to reach you — on the other side.   Are you on the other side?  Are you helping to build the bridge?  Are you half way across waiting for me?  Are you ahead of me?

  • Drive and discover new communities.  The roads around here are curvy, full of hills, mountains — and are so randomly marked, I can get lost from just turning any direction.
  • There is certainly much to discover in the small towns.  There is a river nearby and plenty of creeks — so I cross bridges regularly on my treks around towns.

    The Susquehanna River
  • Learn to understand and speak Spanish.  Right now I’m in the infant stages — understanding the words — just not ready to start full sentences.  I use predominantly audio cds.   I listen and respond out loud —Level II — half way through.
  • Study techniques to improve online visibility and sales.   I study online because the hours for learning are best for my brain and my internal clock that operates on “second shift.”  eCommerce is my “job” because there is a broader base for income – and my career with six income producing venues was bullied (the wimpy way to say abused and destroyed) away from me.

  • Spend time with my cat, Carmel.  He is precious, playful and gives me peace of mind.

orange tabby

Well, that’s the beginning of my brain bridge. Well, that’s the story of my brain bridge and am glad I can get to the other side — and look back.

What is Creativity?

  1. Creativity is the capacity within individuals to develop ideas for the purpose of solving problems and exploiting opportunities. 

It is important to define creativity because it can mean a lot of different things to different people.

Creativity is not art, it is not design and it most certainly is not the sole preserve of tortured geniuses and mad scientists.

Creativity is a capacity – it is something that we can all learn to use more effectively. It allows us to develop ideas to solve problems in different ways and to spot, adapt to, embrace and capture opportunities.

Brain2Sides

Thanks to Mark Batey Ph.D. for his research on creativity.

Fostering Creativity #2

Promoting intrinsic motivation and problem solving are two areas where educators can foster creativity in students. Students are more creative when they see a task as intrinsically motivating, valued for its own sake.

Creativity... #problemsolving #creativity

To promote creative thinking, educators need to identify what motivates their students and structure teaching around it. Providing students with a choice of activities to complete allows them to become more intrinsically motivated and therefore creative in completing activities or tasks.

Teaching students to solve problems that do not have well defined answers is another way to foster their creativity. This is accomplished by allowing students to explore problems and redefine them, possibly drawing on knowledge that at first may seem unrelated to the problem in order to solve it.

Corpus Callosum Creativity

As a practical matter, the right-hemisphere myth is a little nonsense because virtually no one has a split brain. The two halves of our brain are connected by an immense structure called the corpus callosum, and the hemispheres also communicate through the sense organs. Creativity has no precise location in the human brain. Creativity, in short, is not something mystical; it’s an extension of what you already know.

When it comes to creativity, there’s good news and very good news. The good news is that the mysteries of the creative process are finally giving way to a rigorous scientific analysis. The very good news is that, with the right skills, you can boost your own creative output by a factor of 10 or more. Significant creativity is within everyone’s reach–no exceptions.

Creativity Myth #2

Our creative potential is nearly shut down by early schooling. Teachers are the first to admit this. In kindergarten, all the kids are artists and inventors. Starting in the first grade, the kids have to work all the time. There’s no more time for fun, because there’s so much they’ve got to learn. They’re rarely allowed to daydream any more. It’s a wonder that any of them ever grow up to be artists or inventors.

When it comes to creativity, myths keep most people firmly rooted. Only artists have creativity, and creativity is rare, we’re told. Creativity is mysterious and magical and divine, people say. Creativity, in short, is not something mystical; it’s an extension of what you already know. To be more specific, new behaviors (or “ideas”) emerge as old behaviors interact, and the process by which behaviors interact is orderly.