Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Hey, I'm up here!

When inspiration whispers, I listen and my grassy nerves rustle in the breeze. When it shouts, I jump up and down and speak in an uncomfortably high volume.

When inspiration is silent, I search for it. I leave little notes around so it knows where to find me. I ask people if they've seen it. If they haven't, I walk away in disgust.

Tonight inspiration sang to me. It hit a note that I haven't heard in a little while, it pierced my ear.

This blog exists as an earring. A tool to keep my ear open.

Not for sounds coming in, I hear those very well. No, this virtual stud will let me hear the sounds coming out. Of me.

Tonight I watched a TEDtalk given by David Brooks, New York Times columnist. He spoke about the social animal that we are. He said many fantastic things, as most TED speakers do, but the note that pierced my ear was this:

In speaking about the unconscious, or subconscious mind, he said that many studies have indicated that our best decisions are those based on emotion. We make the right choices when we react to what we feel, because our unconscious mind knows how to navigate our world far better than our conscious one. Our sub- or unconscious mind can analyze a huge amount of information at once, more than we can consciously, and draw the right conclusion.

He cited furniture shopping as an example - a difficult task indeed. He said that we should try it: do our research, take measurements, look at the furniture, then distract ourselves for a while. When we come back to the decision, our gut will tell us what armchair works best because our subconscious has figured it out.

I am often overwhelmed by emotion, but I'm at my best when I don't suppress it.  I am a fantastic public speaker because my speeches are almost always heartfelt, so I connect with my audience.  And as Mr. Brooks would guess, I do make better decisions when I'm feeling exposed.

So this blog also exists as a personal trainer. I am exercising my ability to sense myself and to express myself. Madonna will be so proud. No particular topics, no particular mood, just a place to react to the world around and within.

This blog will be public because I think private online diaries are oxymoronic. This blog will also be a lot less emoriffic moving forward, but sometimes it takes an emotional spark to get inspiration's attention.

...yeah whatever. You can deal with it for one post.

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