Brain
Candy
“It
is a peaceful Sunday in Chur, in an afternoon mood. Feeling quite at ease, I
mount the road into the country; everything is spread out before me…in a
goldish autumn glow. Glorious views when I look back, the views on either side continuously
changing and more spacious. After half an hour, a little side path, which
brings me into lovely shadow—for till now it has been quite warm. Now I came
into the gorge through which the Rabiusa roars, a place I cannot marvel at enough.
I walk on, over bridges and on small paths leading along the cliffside, for
about half an hour, and now find, marked by a flag, the springs of Pasugg.”
Friedrich
Nietzsche ( Selected Letters, p.101)
This
excerpt from a letter to his mother, was written in 1872. I have, from time to
time, delved into this collection of Nietzsche’s correspondence to remind myself
just how beautiful handwritten letters used to be. It’s not just the calligraphy
of the text, but the way it forces one to dive into their storehouse of words
to describe the scene. Granted, Nietzsche was a master letter writer, but so
were many people at the time. The place he describes is in Switzerland, where
he walked through the gorge to a “spa” featuring natural springs of mineral
waters. The rocks there are crisscrossed by veins of graphite, quartz with ochre,
even gold, producing waters containing the various minerals—a saline soda spring,
for instance. His description of his Sunday arrival is priceless: “in an
afternoon mood.” We understand its meaning without explanation. Even
translated by Christopher Middleton, from German to English, the letters are
poetically descriptive.
The act
of handwriting a letter is especially powerful because it forces one to use several parts
of the brain together. The frontal lobe, for instance, is responsible for
movement, reasoning, judgement, planning, and problem solving. And the parietal
lobe interprets words and language. Writing by hand also stimulates a
collection of cells in the base of the brain called the Reticular Activating
System, which focuses our attention and brings information to the forefront. It
triggers the brain to pay close attention and thus improves our ability to
access and use language that is stored within. (NeuroRelay; “How Does Writing
Affect Your Brain,” Aug. 7, 2013) I say this to encourage you to write and
to read what you write silently and aloud. Especially if you are over 65,
exercises such as this can help you retain memory and recall of words.
We are
conditioned to think we need a supplement to improve brain function in our
later years. But there are many ways to exercise your brain that do
not involve pharmaceuticals. Handwriting is one of them—an important one. Using
your brain to problem solve, plan, and sort through possibilities before making
decisions is another. You may not want to write letters; but choose something
else. I handwrite the quotes I use for the blog, and I write and draw in a
journal. Remember first grade when you were learning how to write for the first
time? Practice, practice, practice—I can still see that blue-lined paper with
the dashes between lines, can’t you? You can ditch the blue lines, but
handwriting is a great exercise for brain health and strength. Besides, it’s
beautiful in a way that no font on the computer can match. Give your brain a
refresher course.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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