Being Right-Brained

Thanks to my friend Mary for forwarding this to me:

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. -
(well, I am actually diagnosing MYSELF...) Age Activated Attention
Deficit Disorder.
This is how it manifests: I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the
porch table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car
keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the
table, and notice that t he can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the
garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I
take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one
check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the
house to my desk, where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke
aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I realize the Coke is
getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep
it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on
the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.

I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading
glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to
water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with
water, and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen
table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking
for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I
decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water
the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on
the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and
wipe up the spill Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was
planning to do. At the end of the day:
the driveway is flooded,
the car isn't washed,
the bills aren't paid,
there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,
there is still only one check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm
really baffled, because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really
tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help
for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to everyone you know,
because
I don't remember who I have sent it to. Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!

I wrote this in reply:

That's me exactly and guess what? This is how us artists are BORN! When you are right-brained you see everything as connected, nothing is compartmentalized, you don't filter information that your senses take in and even though you are busy, busy, busy it sometimes seems like nothing gets done! You can learn how to use it to your advantage and get lots of things done at once, but it's a constant challenge.

I have been told so many times, when people see my paintings, that they envy my talent and it must be so great to be able to paint so beautifully. That's true, I love being creative but being right-brained sure has its price!!! You would not believe the mess on my desk with many different open folders and papers with tasks all half done because I find it so hard to complete one job without getting distracted by another one.

The worst thing is when your friends who you haven't seen for a while ask what you have been doing. You know you have been busy doing lots of little things but how do you explain it?!

Are women more right-brained? I think so. Don't women always multi-task? And I think it gets worse as you get older and you add some forgetfulness. I wonder how this information is connected. Research has recently shown that Alzheimer patients who are also artists do not lose their ability to paint or create.

If you want to see my paintings go to,
www.carolsheart.com