Brain-storming:
By: Annette L. Greene
As I wrestle with a new story topic, my mind is a scattered mess of ideas. A thundershower approaches. Lightning bolts from the sky. A streak of light breaks the barriers of clouds, rumbling down from the surface of the darkened sky, rain shatters the afternoon. I huddle in a storm cellar, waiting for the storm to pass, pondering if I should go up to the porch as a tornado approaches. Leaves sputter in the rain-washed puddles gathering in the street, on the side-walks, and in the grassy fields.
***
As I think about what it is that I want to say,
a single white cloud appears.
Drip. Fizzle. Dries up; sunny day.
No story.
***
So how do I settle this storm of uncertainty? Do I wander back to the brink of the moment, where the action is, where the lightning flashes, and we are running for cover?
The dry day has nothing for the conflict that we wish when we are creating a story.
***
In his book, “How We Decide,” Jonah Lehrer has a few answers which provide insight into why the storm of the brain is necessary — the emotions, in its affect upon what is rational to the mind, against perfectly laid out and logical — reason.
He refers to Plato, and how most people think that logic is the only choice. According to Plato, the emotions, represented by wild horses leading a chariot, must be mastered by the whip of reason, masterly led by the charioteer who knows the direction without being led astray by the wild emotions of horses who require blinders to steer.
Throughout his book, Lehrer shows that emotions are an important facility in developing reason, and assisting the rational brain to develop through an error quotient. “Learning is slow,” says Lehrer, whose wit is coupled by his intense ability to narrate, creating visual images enabling the reader to see what he means. The emotions are so compelling, that they are as valuable as any logic.
Don’t be afraid of the storm. Learn from it.
***
