Day 23 Brain Ache

Hokay - had to take a day off for TWO reasons. Firstly, it's not easy being 100% positive when it feels like someone has stabbed you in the knees (see last post). Looking on the bright side, I was jogging along the canal towpath so at least I didn't fall in, and, as far as my track record is concerned, FOR ONCE I didn't trip over my own feet. That is remarkable. Secondly, 40 days of Lent is spread over a 6.5 week period which effectively gives me 6 days 'off' positivity, which are supposed to be Sundays, but taking liberties...

SO

My thought process is becoming predictable... I say I'll follow an 'easy' website mission for the day but, more often than not, it inspires a greater depth of thought than those drenched in inane ideologies...

Take the most simplistic suggestion from Friday: try writing in the opposite hand. The concept of using the brain in an atypical (on an individual basis) way is fascinating AND wanders so mercilessly into the realms of science I feel the need to apologise once more for the lack of Aniston.

In the most basic of terms, a longitudinal fissure separates the human brain into two distinct cerebral hemispheres. Right and left. This dichotomy is almost so simplistic that I, a complete novice of science, can imagine the true situation is intensely complex.

The assumption is that the left hemisphere - logical, pragmatic, analytical, objective - rules right-handed people. Left-handed people however, follow the right - reveling in some kind of chaotic mess of creativity, artistry, and subjectivity. Most articles about this with regards to positivity and happiness, indicate a recent societal shift toward the right hemisphere. After years of capitalism and materialism, the effects of commerce and business are finally countered by the need for a more holistic, natural approach.

The more I read about this, the more I realise research into brain function isn't saying our behaviour is necessarily based on biologically determined factors, or genetic rules, moreover, societal patterns of behaviour have simply become so entrenched in human nature they are accepted as natural, creating tacit established norms. In this respect, for example, we are blind to the assumption human traits such as altruism take conscious effort. So we are not intrinsically motivated by self-interest, we are responding to (or are a product of) our environment - in many ways the insecurities of our environment. WHICH links back to the last post about governmental control over our immediate environment.

MAAAAAH! Thanks, from the bottom of my socially altered heart, for sticking with this stream of consciousness.

I had the immense misfortune of unearthing this wholly disgusting site: The 100% Brain Course

Fiscally motivated of course, 100 % Brain Course abuses the concept that you don't know how to be happy or successful in life because hey! Get this! You only use a small proportion of your brain! BUY THIS PRODUCT and you, yes YOU, will be capable of using 100% of your brain. The 100% Brain Course manual 'guides you through this developmental process with its 223 mental and emotional exercises’. 223? This website... this product, is true brain rot and I’m not going to make any excuses for it or try to weigh up any argument... all I will say, in its defense, is if you have EVER desired the ability to master Lucid Dreaming Techniques, this site is for you.

However, in the nature of this blog and as much as it might pain me, I will follow a rule from this site for a day. It asserts that most people are 'stuck' in daily routines, which use a small proportion of brain matter. Breaking your routine opens up whole world of grey matter! Point one, in the niftily succinct 7 point rules, is switching your 'handedness' which I've done... so fast track (avoiding point 3 - look in your refrigerator – I KID YOU NOT) to point 7:

7) To develop flexibility and adaptability in your life, do something different every day. Shop at a different store. Take a different route home. Bake a pie or a loaf of bread. Involve yourself in a new game or sport, like roller-skating, bowling, karate or skydiving. Introduce yourself to a new neighbor. Sameness every day is a death knell to your brain. For more complete usage of your brain, diverse stimulation is the key. It also gets you unstuck from habits and ruts that are bringing you unfavorable results.

Once again, I am not going ANYWHERE NEAR physical activity for now, and I doubt there is much demand for skydiving over Hackney. But I will make a conscious effort to do something new.