The Epistle of Q — Chapter Five

Does this commentary not seems just a little cleaner today? A little fresher? Well that’s really no surprise, because by noon today I was feeling much better so I got up, had a shower and even shaved, and put on some clean clothes and returned to work…at least a little bit…

Q #1
Does a lack of inquisitiveness on any given day perhaps suggest that the brain wishes to rest parts of itself and so slows down those compartments that might actually create more work?
Very few questions of a general nature have crossed my mind today. I have a better sense of my body in part because the rest it received, while not divesting itself of the cold completely, has seemingly made the Achilles problem less severe. This did lead me to surmise that perhaps some physical aches will lessen, and potentially disappear, if one is willing to rest a bit more (or at least a little longer).
But then I wondered is that more an age thing? When I was in high school, I hardly ever took a class off, let alone a day or week. I don’t know that I was all that exceptional as a student — no one ever called me a scholar in high school (unless in a spat of derision coming from the less academic classmates). So why then did I not need more rest breaks OR in retrospect, is that one of my problems — my ADHD kept me from relaxing sufficiently so as to keep my brain in trimmer shape.

We are more concerned these days with mental wellness than at any time in my life. Early on, the big push was simply to close those large mental institutions (like in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), and to offer a bit more help to families who had within their home someone who just didn’t function with a normal brain. For example: when I used to deliver papers, there was one house where I was told never to go — they would get their daily paper at the post office because they had an older child who was actually locked in a cage but special help would come occasionally. This was scary stuff for an elementary student. Thankfully we are well beyond that now. We have a diversity of people — some famous, some influential, some athletic, some scientific — all being spokespersons for aspects of mental illness, depression, bi-polar disorders, etc., etc. This is good and even I myself at times have taken up the banner or the loudspeaker and attempted to spread the word. And there are more trained specialists who understand mental wellness and how to overcome situations wherein mental illness emerges or resides.

But maybe there is more to it than simple awareness and specialty helpers. Perhaps we need to be training and educating people of all ages towards a regime of mental fitness. In all our efforts to get people to trim up their brains and mental powers just the way we encourage people to trim up their bodies. Sudoko puzzles, crosswords, and the like are recommended by many geriatric doctors and these are no doubt helpful. But perhaps we have to encourage people to keep using their brains from the perspective that they still are not old, and the world that they still see with their eyes is still real. Worry less about looking in the mirror and instead start looking for people to talk to. Maybe Tim Horton’s serves a bigger function than we give it credit for…those regular meetings of the alter/anti-city-council groups may actually be brain fitness centres. Perhaps those sidewalk chess sets actually serve as vital a purpose as a community gym that provides specials in different types of fitness regimes.

These all are important because they are not continuous. They are intermittent and thus give the brain a chance to rev up and then rest. Therefore perhaps in schools we need to make sure that in addition to all the academic coursework, the various other learning options, and the opportunities to participate in extra & intra mural activities, there are times set aside to rest the brain, or at least those parts of the brain we are trying to cram knowledge into. Perhaps the old elementary school recess concept needs to be adapted for secondary education: a fifteen minute break in the morning and afternoon where everyone has to complete a sudoko or a crossword puzzle within ten minutes and then for five minutes each person just sits quietly — some can learn to meditate, others can learn to hear the silence, many may at least realize that five minutes of doing nothing could become a really cool thing.

I have often thought that if I am not competing; if I am not keeping the pedal to the metal, that I am somehow letting myself down and thus letting those around me — my team mates at work, my students in my courses, my family, my especially close friends. Perhaps I wasn’t taught well enough — to know and realize that even in the most dynamic situations, even in the most passionate debates, the brain still needs a rest.

What is ironic about this all is that I have told my students as well as my kids (and now my Grandkids) that a minimum of twelve hours before an exam, and preferably twenty-four, they should put the books down, go to a movie, or a sporting event — just relax the brain so that it can more readily pull out the needed material/answers when actually completing the exam the next day… I think that advice is so valuable, so true, and so relevant that I am going to start applying it to me, from this day going forward… Even on those occasions where time is at a premium, I’m going to try very hard to make sure that there are some moments of total brain rest. Who knows, might just mean that my brain lasts a little longer than the warranty period suggested…

Q #2
How long are serious colds supposed to last? And if a person takes a flu’ shot, does that simply mean any colds that are acquired will stick around longer because there is more room in the human body? And could serious colds that cause one to stay in bed extraordinary lengths of time be a secondary cause of very interesting dreams?

Interesting questions for which I have no answer at all — that’s why I’m asking you.

Q #3
Does cold weather make us more productive than warm weather? Are we in Canada more dynamic because we have to constantly battle weather, climate and environment? Stay tuned…one of these days I’m going to get into this topic…

g.w.