Frederick Giasson

Our memory is associative. You’ll remember complete scenes when you will ear a sound, see an image or smell an odor. Our brain doesn’t work linearly. It does multi-tasking, link ideas, thoughts and sensations one between the other.

Why don’t we try to take these characteristics into account when we are taking notes, doing brainstorming or just trying to clarify our thoughts? This is exactly what Mind Maps try to handle: the non linearity of our brain’s processing.

What are mind maps? There is a Mind Map I done to write this article:

It’s easy to write a text based on these keywords and the links they have one between the other. There is my presentation of what are a Min Maps, how it works and their benefits compared to traditional linear note taking.

Mind Maps are based on the fact that the brain doesn’t process things linearly and that our memory is mainly associative. They take these characteristics into account to help us to structure a subject. By this method, it will be easier to remember what the subject was about with a simple look at the Mind Map.

This is a new note taking method. It will present, consolidate or summaries information on a selected subject. The system will relate each idea between them. These links will show you the relation, semantic or symbolism, between your ideas. This note taking method will help you to clarify your thoughts, in your brain storming and will show you new facts. It’s much easier to incorporate new ideas to these schemas than in a linear text.

How these mind maps are created? It’s firstly the result of your personal style. It’s recommended to personalize your Mind Maps because it reflects your thinking. They are composed of colors, images, keywords and lines. To express the non-linearity of the method, you should put the main subject of the Mind Map in the center of your page. To know how to build these Mind Maps, I suggest you to visit these web sites: here, here and there.

What are the benefits of using Mind Maps? It helps you in your creativity process. It will help you to see things with another point of view. Why is this working? Because it take into account the non-linearity of your brain. It takes into account that your memory is associative by only using keywords, images and colors. The whole process will made your notes much easier to review and remember.

Why I talked about Mind Maps? I know this method since a while but I was reading this article and I found the idea to handle the non linearity of the brain and memory with such a system really interesting and I wanted to write about this idea.

Technoratie: [mindmap] [brain] [notebook] [writing] [idea] [creativity]

Some months ago I saw the presentation of “Les 7 Sommets” by Jason Rodi. This is the story of Jason and his father climbing the topmost mountain of each continent. It was unreal. He was commenting his film during the presentation. He said many things… to many things. He was talking about his project and the benefits of it; he was talking about his new vision of the world and how it came in his life:

“Imagine a circle.

See it as if the life is imprisoned in it.

All attainable things are inside the circle: having wife, going to university, having one or two children, having a good job, having friends, etc.

Outside the circle, you have all other things: going to the moon, having 20 children, climb the Everest.

When you success to accomplish something outside the circle, he shatter, and the limits vanish… everything became attainable.”

Jason Rodi reached the Everest.

Technoratie: [life] [Everest] [mountain] [climbing]

Be you; be true; be emotional; tell what you really think; reveal who you are; don’t hide…

How easy it was to read these words…

How hard it is to follow these instructions…

Writers that follow this path make the best writings, no doubts. Readers love to read how and what the writers think. Readers like to know the moods and emotions a writer’s experiencing. Readers like to know that writers are like them, humans with forces and weaknesses.

How to become such a writer? Personally, it’s a lot work. It’s not easy to write and talk as freely as this. It’s no natural to me to talk as deeply as I wish. I have a strong censor. A voice that talk to me each time I’m about to say or write something. I think it’s a sort of fear; a fear of being discovered: truly discovered.

This censor seems to be in every human being. Da Vinci had his and tried to work around it to create all his incredible innovations.

I try to tame it. I try, slowly, to get rid of this fear, to open myself to my relatives. I try personifying my writings… I try to be myself.

The process is slow and hard. I never expected that it would be as hard as it is. In reality, I never expected to write and talk, truly, about me.

How I work on this fear? Step by step.

By example, I sent an email of my article about Internet in High Schools to my friend teacher (the protagonist of the article). She seemed to be really happy to read it. We talked about it and I tell her that I was not sure if I should send it to her. She asked, puzzled, why? My answer: I don?t know. It was not really true, it was my censor that tried to stop me; my fear.

Which fear? She is probably asking.

–I don?t know.

But I done it and it helped me in my process.

I try and I’m trying hard. What help me to continue? I see benefits. I learn on myself in the process.

What make me to talk about this today? Two things: my talk with my friend about my high schools article and my current rage of reading about writing.

I’m currently reading On Writing Well. The book goes in search of two of the most important qualities of a good writing: humanity and warmth.

“Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is. I often find myself reading with interest about a topic I never thought would interest me?some scientific quest, perhaps. What holds me is the enthusiasm of the writer for his field. How was he drawn in it? What emotional baggage did he bring along? How did it change his life? It?s not necessary to want to spend a year alone at Walden Pond to become involved with a writer who did.

This is the personal transaction that?s at the heart of good nonfiction writing.”

He is right. It’s what people like to read. The best blog posts are them where I can ear the voice of the writer.

“Who am I to say what I think?” they ask. “Or what I feel?”

“Who are you not to say what you think?” I tell them.

“There’s only one you. Nobody else thinks or feels in exactly the same way.”

“But nobody cares about my opinions,” they say. “It would make me feel conspicuous.”

“They’ll care if you tell them something interesting,” I say, “and tell them in words that come naturally”.

“Still, we have become a society fearful of revealing who we are.”

I can easily visualize myself in this conversation with William Zinsser. Is it a rational or irrational fear? I wish I would be able to answer to this question soon.

In the same trend, I would like to finish this post with two quotes of a book I’m reading in parallel with On Writing Well: Mes Démons by Edgar Morin; one of the most influence French sociologist. This book is his short autobiography and a repository of ideas that haunt him since ages.

“[..] voulais-je avant tout affirmer une fidélité à moi-même et à mes idées. ”

“En 1958, au terme d’Autocritique, je me posais la question : Ai-je été sincère?, et je comprenais que la réponse à cette question était indécidable : La sincérité n?est pas une pure flamme qui jaillit de l’esprit; la volonté d’être sincère, quand il s’agit d?être sincère sur soi, se perd toujours dans les labyrinthes et les doubles fonds intérieurs… La sincérité ne peut être pure qu?à un moment particulier de combustion entre les gaz qui la nourissent et la fumée qui s?en dégage.

Aujourd’hui, avant de commencer, je me demande : “Serai-je véridique? ” […] “

Technoratie: [writing] [writer] [fear] [yourself]

This is a little thought I had. It can seem naïve.

Why do I write? I can write for myself. I can write for others.

I write to clarify ideas, situations or thoughts to myself or to others. I write to try to understand myself or to be understood by others.

The fundamental aim of my writings is to clarify things.

So, why do people are using symbolism in writing? If their goals are the same as mine: I can’t understand their choices. If not, then, I can’t understand why they are writing.

Why could I want to obfuscate my ideas? This act would be again my goals, again me and again my readers.

Why would I try to work against me?

Why do people are using symbolism in their writings? It’s that because they fear what people could think of their ideas?

Writing is an act of truth. I any writing, fiction or nonfiction, the author is here and his truth is talking, just waiting to be listened.

It’s why symbolism in writing doesn’t make any sense… to me.

Technoratie: [writing] [symbolism]