I recently acquired some school pictures of my very handsome dad when he was little, I wish my freckles were more prominent like his! He’s so adorable. We are the only two in our family of redheads with blue eyes.
I’ve been reading Iconoclast (a person who does something that others say can’t be done) and have found it to be really intriguing, especially since it’s written by a neuroscientist. Three natural roadblocks that hamper the innovative thinking:
1. Flawed Perception. (Chihuly didn’t begin truly having groundbreaking works until he lost vision in his eye, forcing his brain to literally see differently.)
2. Fear: Fear of failure/public ridicule. (Henry Ford realized how to deconstruct and reappraise fear, as warning sign, not a guide for action.)
3. Inability to influence others. (Be a Picasso, not a Van Gogh.)
It’s kind of fun to understand that the brain is a lazy muscle that tries to preserve efficiency by constantly taking the shortcuts, simplifying and categorizing. Once we have that realization, then we can be on the alert… continuously exposing ourselves to different environments, people, and novel experiences that will jog the perceptual system out of familiar categories. Trying to see things as they might be, and not as they are, is the challenge that will bring imagination out of perception.
Education consists mainy in what we have unlearned. – Mark Twain
I’m not the best at updating it often, but here is a little catalog of all the other books I’ve been looking at lately.
lovely post, your dad was one cute kid. i am intrigued by the book you mentioned. i’m gonna have to check it out. :)
Hm…some very interesting thoughts for this afternoon!
I am constantly at battle with the “lazy me”-trying to give myself projects and road blocks to make my life more active.
I’m stuck on that “Flawed Perception” point, too. I can think of so many instances to illustrate that point! Hm…
off to work on some things!
You’ve just inspired me-thanks :)
such a wonderful way of seeing things. i have been thinking about this a lot lately. thanks for sharing, jenny!
This book looks SO right up my alley! And really fits in with what my brain and I have been working on lately.