Tag Archives: Creativity

Left Brain vs. Right Brain Thinking

Thoughts On Life, , , ,
Heart ornament I made last year using the creative side of my brain.

I always assumed I was left brained, which is the analytical side because my degree is in Biology and I spent my career as an environmental scientist. Lately, I have been wondering if this is so. I also do a number of creative or right brained activities. I make felt ornaments, design gardens, do very amateur sketches, and of course, write among other artsy things.

I began to wonder if perhaps I was really right brained and just became a scientist as the result of hard work. I did have trouble with chemistry and calculus in college. Maybe that was why it took so much effort on my part? I passed calculus after much frustration and many tears.

Yesterday evening, I found a test on-line that tells you which side of your brain predominates according to your answers to their questions. Care to venture a guess how mine turned out? I was a little surprised but should have expected the outcome. I fall in the middle with 46% of my thinking being left brained. I discovered upon further research that apparently falling in the middle range is a common thing.

 37 percent of Americans are left-brained, while only 29 percent are right-brained. In 34 percent of participants, the two hemispheres exert equal influence on decision-making. -excerpt from a Huffington Post article

I don’t claim to be normal, and by the way, I think “normal” is highly overrated. In this case, there is no normal or abnormal. I find the concept fascinating, nonetheless. We all know those people who analyze every area of their lives and those who can barely focus enough to string two thoughts together.

During my career I was proud of my analytical thinking. I still am. Now, I have decided that I am also proud to have my thought processes fall in between analytical and creative or artistic abilities. Although different, both have value. By having two ways of thinking, it gives a wider range of ideas for problem solving. It allows the ability to appreciate the beauty of things as well as how they work. I think being able to see things both ways, has the potential to enable us to understand different points of view. And we all need to make the effort to understand others’ perspectives, even when we disagree with them.

I hope you all enjoy pondering this issue as much as I did. Peace to you.

A Garden of Thoughts

Thoughts On Life, ,

I’ve been learning about the process of writing as I try to write a book. So far I’ve started at least four different ones. So I decided something needed to change since I obviously haven’t been able to maintain my focus. I’m doing two things differently and they seem to be helping.

Reading is always a help to me. So I am reading a book about how to write. It is a textbook sort of book. I read one chapter every day or so and then ponder the exercise at the chapter’s end. The book I chose is one I purchased some years ago called The Right to Write by Julia Cameron. Lots of good info. I would recommend it.

Secondly, I am writing longhand instead of typing on my laptop. Apparently the process requires different skills and can help with creativity. I discovered a number of famous authors do their first drafts with pen or pencil. This has helped me immensely. I don’t spend time trying to fix the things my computer points out as I go, instead of writing. The words seem to flow from my brain to the paper uninterrupted. As I finish a sentence, the next one forms in my brain on its own. I don’t know what is coming next until it pops in my mind. Pretty cool!

Who would have thought?

The Artist

Dogs & Other Animals, Rescue Happenings, ,

This is my little artist, Zekie. He uses many mediums and is especially into repurposing.

This is his fiber art piece. It’s the jacket he moved his crate across the room and took off a chair. Then he pulled it through slats in his crate and shredded it. Anything for his art.

This is one of Zeke’s repurposed metal sculptures . As you can see he is creative and quite the determined worker.

Personally, I am hoping he will take a hiatus from future projects. I have my doubts but time will tell.