Put your pen to paper and refuse to let it up... and your brain kicks 
into creative mode. It's a bit like tricking your brain to fetch new insights and at the same time this novel approach silences parts of your brain that edit... critique ... or just plain limit ideas.
For instance, I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about how we've wired an entire generation of brains for war… conflict … and negatives.
To show what I mean ... I simply wrote my way into the problem as a way to see it's parts more clearly.
Because I went after insights – with a question to guide my thoughts… my brain shot back answers faster than I could type. The question I asked my muse was… what have we done to build a strong mindset for war ... and how have we wired a generation of brains to live with war. Here’s what popped back instantly:
-- Text books fill us with images of war and battle plans
-- Posters advertise for army recruits to fight wars
-- People talk of freedom as if can only be only we won at wars
-- Video games replay hot battle scenes that wire kids’ brains to war
-- Newspapers cover front pages daily with war scenes and disaster stories
-- Talk shows revisit and celebrate heroes from wars
-- Medals are given for war triumphs and victories are shared
-- War debates constantly carry conversation at the water cooler
-- Toys teach our youth futuristic tactics for better warfare
Why should this emphasis on battle schemes bother us? Because the human brain rewires and builds neuron connectors based on what we do ... on images we see and on topics we emphasize.
To rewire from this mental pre-occupation to war or conflict...consider it's opposite... peace.
Why not write your own list by putting a pen to paper. Keep it rolling non stop for 10 minutes .... as you respond to the question… “What peaceful practices could we do or support... as a way to rewire our brain for active peace possibilities?
Don’t forget to share your list and show us how the creative side of your brain beat out the left brain operations at the same time….
Ellen, while unfortunately not having 10 minutes to spare, I tried to at least quickly think about it and type it in this comment - the first thing that came to mind was the use of war terminology in a business context (i.e. "let's attack our competitor") -I bet if we could get away from that it would go a long way towards the "rewiring" you speak of. Thanks for the post, and all the best.
Posted by: Starbucker | July 25, 2006 11:42 AM | Permalink to Comment