President's Corner - August 2021
Do you like Sudoku puzzles? I am not a fan…I can’t track enough steps forward to make sure I’m right and I hate getting multiple steps into it and realizing my error and having to backtrack. It’s frustrating and feels like a waste of my precious time. However, I just read an article that says we should do Sudoku and other brain games to keep our brains growing as we age -- it even encouraged picking hard ones! I don’t think so!
Although Sudoku puzzles are not on my list of things that fire off new brain synapses, many other things are. Research shows that learning new or difficult things gives us the most benefit. Writing these articles falls into the difficult category for me. I am great at writing descriptive/factual things, but when it falls into the creative side, this task starts to fall into the “hard” bucket for me. There is a great deal of “do over” during my monthly cycle of creating this article but I always feel accomplished in my own way when I’m done, even though an editor would probably use plenty of red ink and I’m quite okay with that.
While it is hard to step back from the daily routine and pre-programmed functions our lives become at times, as I get older I am more open to learning and trying new things then I have ever been. I think watching my 2-year-old granddaughter absorb the world around her with awe, has energized me to bring that wonder back into my own eyes. I want to travel to new places with family and friends, read the books that are “on my list”, truly listen to others’ stories and in general, just open my mind and heart wider to truly Learn Constantly every day I am lucky enough to be on this earth.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit through an invite from a dear friend. While I know nothing about art and would not have even thought to go without that outreach, I found it to be a beautiful exhibit. Definitely go see it if you have a chance! I left the exhibit with an appreciation for the beauty he created as well as learning more about he spent his life. The icing on the cake was the 1-year-old boy with eyes of wonder as he pointed to all the amazing scenes.
Take some time to learn about something that interests you or find a toddler and watch the world through their eyes for a few minutes. The synapses will fire!