Of Bees

In the 7th grade I was introduced to the challenge of a spelling bee albeit a relatively informal one as a learning methodology, by a most cherished teacher - Bro. Charles. For the first time, after many years of struggling to find something that felt natural, effortless, and satisfying, I found that I could literally leave others in the dust during the spelling bee.

I could only revel in this new found joy, I had no way of understanding the why. A spelling bee would be conducted quite regularly, somewhere between a game and a quiz, and we would just stand at our desk until we missed a word.

Right or Left or Left and Right

How could I have known that our brains are the same and very different at the same time. I now recall that at first I would hear the word to be spelled and then I would repeat it in my mind, and then I would begin to formulate the spelling, character by character, as I would try to decompose the word into syllables then individual characters. It would be fine with relatively short words, but with longer words it became exponentially difficult as I tried to maintain the right sequnce in my mind, along the lines of memorizing in real time.

Then it happened. I don't remember when or how. I suppose at some point my brain was exasperated by what probably felt like a brute force approach, and it just rebelled. But it came up with a better approach or perhaps just because it saught to make it easier so that I could enjoy. I found that when I heard the word, I actually saw it visually in my mind. Not necessarily in a specific font but just the word and the characters that formed it. Quickly the visual representation became sub-blocks corresponding to familiar patterns of characters in words. Perhaps something like "a-m-e" and it would have an automatic sequence of spelling based on the sounds of each letter. So "fame" would become "f-X" where X was already triggered. In some ways it's an extension to word formation as we learn a language.

I would hear the word sounding as "sargent" but what I saw was "ser-gaent" as a word exception. All this was never really apparent to me as an approach or method. It felt normal. Only many many years later would I come back to ponder this. I would work on business cases and plans - all had plenty of numbers, analysis, and so on to justify or prove something. I could get lost in the numbers - the math would be right but it would seem like brute force. But then I switched to seeing them as parts of a pie, scales, bars, spheres, and voilà I began to see relationships, cause and effect, and whole different dimension opened up. I found narratives to be important but I could develop it better if I visualized the boxes, block diagrams, flow, weights, timelines, and so on.

Sometimes these visual representations looked odd in my mind - unbalanced, lack of symmetry, convoluted, in-elegant - and I could see a change in the visual picture that would be more appealing and this would lead to finding a way of introducing a new element in the narrative, or pehaps modifying and adapting something. It was part of the creativity and thinking outside the box.

I have no idea whether any of this is unusual or it's just how it works for everyone. I do know that many times I've described an idea with numbers and facts in these terms, and others have given me something of a blank stare as if I were speaking in another tongue.

I thought I had mused enough about this. I guess not.

Bees and Music

As a mid-life cellist, learning an instrument is fascinating because one needs to learn and do a number of things that require a new collaboration between mind, brain, muscles, and the senses. A together of notes that form a melody or tune, easily evoke an emotion and can trigger other sensations as well. However, actually playing, in this case a cello, requires additional coordination. You have to be able to read notes, so that's a new language for all intents and purposes. A note is a pitch and you have to know the sound of the pitch otherwise on a fretless instrument you are missing an important feedback for intonation. So far so good for me. Music is also written with a beat. If you're playing alone you might forget the beat or perhaps you prefer to beat inconsistently or variably according to your desires, and that's not a problem. But music needs to played with a consistent beat if it is no longer solo so that every other part, and presumably other players, will all be in unison at the right time. Even in this I seem to deal with without much frustration aside from the metronome itself. But beats are half the story.

De Da De

Music has rhythm which is how the notes are played in the context of the beat. Example - just a beat could be da-da-da-da while a rhythm could be da-da-de/da/de. I can explain it to you. I can read what I see. But I can't feel it with my body. When you play an instrument you could call it out by voice or singing, but to play it with the right rhythm and timing - not just as the beat has happened, but as it is just about to occur - the body must have internalized it and therefore one is "moving" to arrive there "in time". I have yet to figure out the key to this. I suspect how I've dealt with numbers, words, and thoughts will also require me to unlock the secret in my own way. So far, musicians and teachers, seem a little dumbfounded at my frustration. That's about par for the course - they wouldn't be musicians in the first place if rhythm were so alien. I don't mind the suggestion to keep at it, some say singing will help, others a mid way with solfeggio, but I have this feeling that my brain continues to try to find ways and patterns to help me find a key.

So maybe in the future there will be a final musing as to a solution and maybe it will be useful to someone else too. But for now this is the journey.

Charlie

This blog is dedicated to Charles Cotè, who at the time was Brother Charles Cotè of Holy Cross Brothers at Notre Dame International School in Rome, Italy. He was pivotal to the foundation of my future education in terms of what I enjoyed, how I could excel, and continue to give me an approach to solve challenges along the way. We all have people who are great teachers in our lives, perhaps they are not great in the absolute sense, but if it worked for us, that is all that matters (for us).

By the Grace of God Charlie has been allowed to live a full and wonderful life.

Thank you Charlie.