August 26, 2010 Being Right; the benefit of being wrong.

     Tom R presented the articles posted on the most recent schedule under "Read More".
  

 The book titled Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch was the source of one of the articles we read.  The author is a violinist, composer, poet, teacher, and computer artist. He studied psychology and literature at Harvard and has a PhD in History of Consciousness from UC Santa Cruz. He has a volume of work in improvisation; he has performed his own music internationally, in live concert. He has written music, created videos, and used the computer in his field of visual music where videos and computer software have been used to create a mixed media piece called American Zen.

   Discussion centered on the second chapter entitled Learning from our mistakes. Discussion centered on the need that we have to always be right! It is a difficult psychological obstacle to overcome. Yet if we can overcome this we can expand our consciousness by learning from our mistakes and not being so threatened by being wrong. To accomplish this, we must recognize the unconscious defense that "I am right", and ignore the fear and defensiveness that arises. Then you can learn from the mistake. We discussed what happens when you know you are right but someone counteracts you and you can't convince the others. What do you do? Several suggestions were put forth: 1) Say "Let me think about it" which gives you time and gets you out of the controversy at least for the time being. 2) Or just always say yes, always agree. Then you will not develop the wall and the amygdala's fear, anger and lose your self confidence. However, sometimes this saying yes can get you into trouble. 3) Another way to proceed is to stay with your belief and just let the other person or people stay with there's. Agree to disagree.

   Again you may read both these articles which we discussed today on the Read More button of our schedule, the previous post.

   Here are two paragraphs from Chapter 2, which we read today, which pertains to this idea of learning from mistakes as well as how to deal with the obstacle or the counterproductive viewpoint that threatens to destroy your self confidence:

 From Free Play, Chapter 2.
   "We all know how pearls are made. When a grain of grit accidentally slips into an oyster’s shell, the oyster encysts it, secreting more and more of a thick, smooth mucus that hardens in microscopic layer after layer over the foreign irritation until it becomes a perfectly smooth, round, hard, shiny thing of beauty. The oyster thereby transforms both the grit and itself into something new, transforming the intrusion of error or otherness into its system, completing the gestalt according to its own oyster nature.
   "If the oyster had hands, there would be no pearl. Because the oyster is forced to live with the irritation for an extended period of time, the pearl comes to be. ( My comment: A very nice analogy which brings this whole idea into focus)  ......
  " Life throws at us innumerable irritations that can be mobilized for pearl making, including all the irritating people who come our way. Occasionally we are stuck with a petty tyrant who makes our life hell. Sometimes these situations, while miserable at the time, cause us to sharpen, focus, and mobilize our inner resources in the most surprising ways. We become, then, no longer victims of circumstance, but able to use circumstance as the vehicle of creativity. This is the well-known principle of Jujitsu, taking your opponent’s blows and using their own energy to deflect them to your advantage. When you fall, you raise yourself by pushing against the spot where you fell."

   For those who would like to investigate this book further, the intention of this entire book is as follows and as quoted on the book website by the author: "This book is about the inner sources of spontaneous creation. It is about where art in the widest sense comes from. It is about why we create and what we learn when we do. It is about the flow of unhindered creative energy: the joy of making art in all its varied forms.
   "Free Play is directed toward people in any field who want to contact, honor, and strengthen their own creative powers. It integrates material from a wide variety of sources among the arts, sciences, and spiritual traditions of humanity. Filled with unusual quotes, amusing and illuminating anecdotes, and original metaphors, it reveals how inspiration arises within us, how that inspiration may be blocked, derailed or obscured by certain unavoidable facts of life, and how finally it can be liberated - how we can be liberated - to speak or sing, write or paint, dance or play, with our own authentic voice.
   "The whole enterprise of improvisation in life and art, of recovering free play and awakening creativity, is about being true to ourselves and our visions. It brings us into direct, active contact with boundless creative energies that we may not even know we had."

   Another Note: Word Art. I mentioned an Internet site which allows you to create word art by entering a story, a paragraph, a bunch of words that have meaning to you, or a family tree. The software will use those words to create a piece of art. It is particularly attractive if you enter surnames and places of birth from your family tree. Those words that appear more commonly will be larger or bolder than those that are less common. You have some control because you can pick colors, sizes, and fonts that are used. Create a piece of word art that is actually framable. The site is http://www.wordle.net/. Have fun creating.