The Way I See It

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“Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out.” – unknown

I’m fascinated by the different ways our brains work. Most recently, I’ve had the chance to watch my kids as they approach the world with their “lantern awareness.” That’s a phrase from Dr. Alison Gopnik, the cognitive psychologist from UC Berkley, who talks about young brains being rewarded for what teaches them the most so they see the world as if they are holding a lantern high and they see everything in their vicinity. Whereas our adult brains have spotlight awareness, which most of the time is like tunnel vision towards our objectives.

In addition to that, it’s things like my friend, Doug, who can remember every route we’ve ever climbed in like a 360 degree view. “Remember that tree when we turn to head up the ridge?” he ‘ll ask. And I shake my head no.

Or my brother who has such great spacial awareness that to work with him to assemble the 300 bars of a jungle gym into a dome is a marvel.

When I was young, I used to memorize license plates which earned me the nickname Rain Man (do you remember that movie?). Fortunately my brain has given that up and now it hangs memories onto my favorite words. So when I hear the word luminous, it reminds me of Julia Preston because of her ability to bring light.

These word associations are the topic of my Wise & Shine post: My Love Affair with Words.

(featured photo from Pexels)

28 thoughts on “The Way I See It”

  1. Oh gosh…Rain Man, eh? I can see that…and it’s a movie I love. So many endearing connections to things I remember about growing up with Lisa and the unique ways in which she linked experiences together. xo, Wynne! 😘

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  4. Oh how funny Wynne! I just finished reading “My Love Affair with Words” and wondered what word you might associate with me. And there it is. Luminous. For you, my word would be Sparkle. It’s your own form of luminosity—everything you do, say, and write just sparkles! You Sparkle Plenty! Happy New Year my friend, in case I haven’t said it before.

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    1. Oh, that’s so funny! And thank you for bestowing that word on me. It’ll live happily on my word tree thanks to you, my luminous friend!! Happy New Year, Julia!! ❤ ❤ ❤

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    1. As long as the words we use over and over are connected, love, kindness…I think we can’t overuse them… 🙂

      So do you do the same thing with words? Deb said she did and now I’m taking an informal poll?

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  8. Very interesting to stop and think about certain words or catch phrases and what we associate with them. I’ll have to give it a more detailed thought next time and see what association come to mind.

    Congrats on the launch of your new blog. I look forward to following along! And wish you the best with it.

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    1. Thank you, Ab! I appreciate so much your constant support and encouragement.

      And if you come up with work associations – I’d love to hear them! 🙂

      Hope you are surviving the week! Sending all my best!

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  11. Well that’s a relief to know my brain works differently than my grand kids because I’m at a loss as to what the hell they’re up to half the time. They’re scanning and I’m focusing. Crazy. Great post! Hugs, C

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  13. I feel like I’ve lost that lantern awareness for sure. I have a hard time remembering stuff except what I need to do next. It kind of stinks. :/ But this was super interesting.

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