Yesterday I spilled wood stain onto my counter top, and when I looked down to find a huge brown puddle splashed onto the beige granite surface, it quite frankly surprised me. 
I’d been holding a paint tray next to a cupboard as I refinished its door. Images of a terrific new look my kitchen would soon sport - captured my full attention, and the fact that my counter top was being ruined at the same time - simply went unnoticed.
Our work is shaped by images that preoccupy our minds – and our brains are rewired by specific tasks we do in a day.
Just as spilled paint came from letting go of another part of my brain – the one that focused on balancing a paint tray as I worked, I saw a new angle of focus needed to create. It happens all the time – we let one part of the brain go – to use another part - and I am glad we’re not all holding paint trays over my counter when it happens.
An enlightened mind tends to open more parts of the brain in unified ways and we can all learn to do it. I like to think of it as weaving together multiple intelligences that help us cope with life. It’s a brain way of adventure beyond the ordinary, and it can happen with any ordinary activity – even when you stain a cupboard. Think of it as a camera of sorts, that zooms in on a close-up one minute and catches colorful images in its wider lens, the next.
Whenever we zoom in an out in synchrony with our workday, we get more from the brain. Start simply by being aware of your brain’s extravagant parts for the task you take on. For instance … while I’m no carpenter, I do like to refresh my surroundings with the kind of art and multiple intelligences that can add zest to my workplace.
Here are the intelligences I used:
1. Spatial intelligence helped me to choose the color and to paint evenly.
2. Kinesthetic intelligence allowed me to move and paint and think of new blogs like this one at the time.
3. Naturalistic intelligence kicked in when yellow finches sang to me while I painted next to a window open to their feeder.
4. Mathematical intelligence reminded me to number the 16 cupboard I removed and line them up in order so they’d be easier to replace.
5. Interpersonal intelligence helped me to imagine the artistic pleasure friends and co-workers will get the next time we lunch in my kitchen.
6. Intrapersonal intelligence helped me to reflect on why it seemed important in a busy day – to stop and refinish cupboards for a fresher look.
7. Musical intelligence spiked my work from the classical music notes in the background that moved my brainwaves while I painted.
8. Linguistic intelligence reminded me to read directions on the can as a way to get the best results from the paint I was using.
What intelligences are you using today … to turn an ordinary event into an extraordinary adventure… in spite of a bit of spilled paint along the way?
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