Rewirement Bits that Make it Fun

Some rewiring tidbits for this week:

Musical Intelligence:

I am still working on my music listening pathway to more brain cells. I had a moment this morning as I was preparing my breakfast when a song lyric popped into my mind unbidden!! And I actually heard the singer and the music for a change. It happened to be a Fred Eaglesmith line and he is a bit country hokey which may explain why it came to me! I have read Gladwell's book about the 10,000 hours of practice and the critics who say it has to be 10,000 hours of good practice since "perfect practice makes perfect" and I am not sure where my music tastes lie.  I am not sure if repeating 'bad music' will have ill effects on my new pathways yet. I am not saying Fred's music is bad by the way.  Although a person's preference for music seems to be pretty personal and if we are emotionally invested in the learning it usually sticks better. So Fred and I are bonding in the car which I have discovered amounts to quite a bit of time together. 

This is Fred for those of you who may not know him.

I write and think and work in my "yellow room" over the garage. I am listening to Adele in this room. She and I aren't bonding as much as Fred and I are, partly because we don't get to spend as much time together apparently. I may switch her to the car.

My yellow room where I work?

Adele for those who may not know her.
Her photo is more touched up than Fred's. 

Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence:

I want to put a plug in here for Pilates. I have been a student of Pilates since my rewirement six years ago. I go twice a week for forty five minutes. I would like to say I am much fitter but it is hard to judge without a video of me six years ago. I feel stronger and am much more flexible but all the moves still hurt and I cannot do the teaser no matter how much I try. We decided (the other ladies and I) that we would likely spill all the beans in about two minutes or less if we were tortured using the Magic Circle.  When Cara had us pull on our leg with the Magic Circle and cross it over our body I was prepared to make shit up if I had to, to stop the pain. Maybe I need ten thousand hours on the teaser alone??

My new Jeep socks from my daughter for wearing to Pilates. 

Love to say this is me but it's really
my Pilates teacher, Cara.

Verbal/Linguistic:

I am writing the second draft of my second book in my mystery series starring Stella Page and her supporting cast, Kate Barthorpe and Jack Rogers. I spent some time with a former police chief this week learning about how tactical teams work. Very interesting stuff for a mystery buff such as myself to learn this "real" stuff.  I then spent some time on the RCMP website looking at wanted posters for bad guys. I had no idea these were on the internet. I couldn't pick one of them out of a line-up now if my life depended on it. Again more hours studying their faces might help. Too scary. I was tempted to put a couple of their photos here but after looking at them I have decided that I much prefer crime FICTION.

Name that tune--not yet!

This quiet Super Bowl Sunday has me once again turning to thoughts of my brain. Why would one lead to the other you might ask? Well I know that football concussions are a serious problem and often lead to long term brain damage which often manifests itself in the players' brains as they age. Not a cheerful thought really but I cannot help cringing every time the helmets smash against each other. Of course I am not a football player (you might have thought I was going to say I played when I was younger but no) but I do pay attention to my brain health much like I consider my body health. Although not often enough.

Music is what is on my mind this day more so than football. Howard Gardner has identified eight intelligences (so far) that we humans demonstrate. http://howardgardner.com/multiple-intelligences/

 Musical/rhythmic intelligence is one of the eight. The others are: verbal/linguistic, mathematical/logical, bodily/kinesthetic, spatial/visual, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.

I have spent lots of time and energy reading and writing and of course talking so verbal/linguistic is pretty good.

Logical is one of my highest aspects on Lumina and I have been working at "figuring" a lot more on my own so mathematical/logical is okay.

I do Pilates twice a week which is my homage to bodily/kinesthetic. I also run up and down the three separate flights of stairs in my house when I think to.

Spatial/visual is not as strong although I work at home decorating, choosing clothing for colour and texture and buying art that I like to look at.

My interpersonal gets a good workout with my friends, my writing group and my family connections.

I spend a fair amount of time on intrapersonal reading spiritual books and trying to practice being a better person. This one takes a lot of practice!!

Naturalist isn't for sure one of the intelligences apparently so I am not going to worry about that one for now.

Back to Musical/Rhythmic which I know is a weak area for me. I love to dance and think I have a pretty good sense of rhythm. My biggest concern is how little I 'hear' music. I have friends who can name every song they hear and who has performed it, friends who have always gone to concerts and still do, keeping up with old bands and finding new ones, who can do song requests of any band. I feel at a loss when the conversation turns to music. My brain goes somewhere else when music is playing and I am supposed to be listening. I don't hear it until a particular melody or tune (not even sure if these are correct terms) catches me. Or a memory of dancing to it comes to me. Otherwise I am somewhere else in my mind in the middle of a thousand people clapping and singing. 

So I need a plan and this is where I intend to start: 
I am going to put myself on a steady diet of music until I can really listen and maybe even retain the sounds and lyrics of some artists. A friend told me she listens to a CD over and over again until she knows it. I am going to start there and see if I can change my musical intelligence, which by the way is quite closely linked to mathematical intelligence, so I may improve in both by creating some new pathways.

It isn't going to be easy. I think it is going to be like meditation when your mind "wanders away like a puppy". I will work to gently bring it back to listening.

I am starting this practice today with a CD by Adele. I will listen to this one until I believe I am "getting it" or getting so sick of it that I need a change. Not sure exactly how this will go. Will keep you posted. Suggestions welcome!