FineLine Letterpress

I had not used this lock for some time.  I like it.  I like the red dial.  The lock is practical, and it seems cheerful to me.  However, when I picked it up to use it, I realized that I no longer had the foggiest idea of the combination.  And of course I had not written it down, because, I don’t know, I guess I thought I would never forget it.

I was mad at myself momentarily, but then I simply relaxed, and actually STOPPED thinking about it.  I put my fingers on the lock, and began turning, and viola! it opened.

How did that happen?  Was the memory in my fingers, but not in my brain?

I love my brain, even though I do not understand it very well.  Where things are stored, and how we retrieve information.

Here is a lovely map of the brain drawn by Leigh Wells:

Maybe the combination had been stored in my muscle-action section, rather than in the number-sequence section.  So when I tried to think of the numbers as if they were a math problem, it could not be located.   But then when I called on my fingers to do their thing….boink!  Out it came.

I believe in the idea that if we exercise our brain it keeps it agile.  I have been loving learning to paint, which has really been about learning to see, which exercises my brain in a whole new way.  I also love thinking about how to do a familiar thing better, like printing, which never gets old for me.  I also think it is very helpful to remember to keep an “open” mind because it prevents the ruts that the mind-wheels seem to easily get caught in.

I think smiling is good for the brain too.  It makes my ears move up and back, and I think this gives the brain more room to do its thing.     Just kidding.     But I do like the idea of that.  And, more often than not, smiling evokes smiling. And seeing that instant, positive feedback does seem to do good things in the brain.