September 2021 Kvetch in the City

I recently happened upon an article that busted the myth that we only use 10% of our brains.

I’m glad to know that, since while it always gave me hope that if I was truly only using 10% of my brain, there remained some redeeming discoveries still left for me to happen upon, it also made me feel kind of dumb thinking I’m using just a fraction of my potential. Like, if I only used more of my brain, I’d have maybe ended up in Harvard. Not that I ever really wanted to go to Harvard, it’s just that when someone says they go to Harvard, I automatically think they use more than 10% of their brain…which now turns out is a myth. It turns out, that we all use 100% of our brain all day long. Apparently our brains are lighting up in there, like an arcade machine, over the course of 24 hours. Good to know. Though I still have to say, now that I’m getting up there in age…there remains some residual doubts about 100% of my brain lighting up all day long.

For instance, a few weeks ago a friend asked if I’d like to join her and another friend for Japanese food. Um…yes! I’m always up for Japanese food. All that to say, I drove to my favorite Green Hills restaurant at the designated time when I discovered upon arrival that I’d left my phone at home. I could probably have run home and gotten back in time, as I know my friend runs late more often than not. Still, I decided to do an experiment and remember what it feels like to be without my iPhone, which is, let’s face it, a computer with a camera you can call someone on.

I must admit…I kind of liked not having my phone. It was just me and the table and chop sticks and a glass of water noticing how odd it is to just sit somewhere. Just sit. Of course, that didn’t last long because I got fidgety. So, I took the chopsticks out of the paper and started folding the wrapper. At that point I wished I had learned Origami. I folded the paper into a rectangle with the design of the paper on the front like a mini canvas and thought that’s a good start and an idea for a painting. This whole sitting without a phone experience was a far cry from what might have been, had I not forgotten it.  I most likely would have been scrolling mindlessly on social media making myself feel bad that I wasn’t on some beach like some acquaintance on Facebook or on some yacht sailing into the sunset somewhere, or dare I say, checking out an ex’s face book page or Instagram story. Plus, I would have never realized how useful it is to know how to create Origami.

It then occurred to me that it has been years now that I’ve lived with a cell phone attached to my hip, dictating my life 24/7. This reliance on my phone along with the constant, crazy connecting…calling, texting, emojis, and constantly checking for something that has nothing to do with the moment can be crazy making at times and make me forget life can actually be livable without it.

I harkened back to the days I traveled the world. Forty or so years ago, first across America, then Europe, then with my job in my early twenties to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea without a cell phone in existence, and somehow managed to always find my way anywhere, everywhere and safely home. While it seems like a miracle now that I managed world travel without a cell phone, it also brought up a nostalgic longing for simpler times that one only seems to find in older people.

So, over a Black Horse Roll (highly recommended) that evening, while my friends and I discussed everything but our ailments (medical talk was off limits that night), I enjoyed a visit with friends, and the joy of my brain definitely lighting up 100% from laughter.