How to Keep a Dynamic Brain for Longer

(Response to friend Stephanie's Interesting Blog Post on Personal Power and How One May Find It)

"This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man." ~W. Shakespeare

I like voicing my fears, concerns, questions, and revelations. It makes me feel connected and aware. It's also worthwhile enough to cause me to hope for some sort of insight after the telling, which is one MAJOR reason I write. Not knowing the source for personal power leads one to begging questions, which, in turn, gets us on the path hunting for answers, seeking qualified advice, critically analyzing the findings, and eventually fashioning a plan of action. Change is never easy. But it can be exhilarating. And the research says it's good for your brain, to boot! Stagnation, old routines, and overly systematic living actually contributes to memory loss, fewer synaptic connections, and lower levels of serotonin. People who know how to change things up, move things around, revel in change, and thrive in unfamiliarity are those who will enjoy more useful brains for longer. The human brain needs challenges, just like the body. Our brains plateau when we feed it the same stuff all the time. Again, this parallels the case with the body. Mind, body, and spirit thrive on new material, diverse material, and challenging material. This can be dangerous for smart people, or people in general actually, who get in the proverbial rut because they feel comfortable playing to their strengths. For example, mathematicians may gravitate to algorithms and permutations while literates gravitate to poetry and other forms of literature. This is fine but once the brain establishes certain synaptic pathways these channels get deeper and deeper and sort of begin to make a person a bore, not just behaviorally but chemically/biologically/physically. The brain gets used to certain activities and becomes less challenged. Certain departments shut down because they think they're not needed. Here is where the research says things begin to degenerate. Moral of the story: writers should try Sudoku and math people need to try a hand at a crossword and both should run a few miles a few times a week. Oversimplified, perhaps. Still, you get the picture.
To address the questions and concerns around finding the sources to certain powers: How does someone become a better runner? By running. How does someone become literate? By reading. There are no secret shortcuts. I love this notion. My brother Dave and I talk about this often: If you want to be a good artist you have to be willing to be a crappy one for quite a while first. Let us try and remember this: EFFORT CREATES ABILITY.