Sunday Scribbling-Right and Left
"Turn right here! No, turn left, right here! "
"Oh, gosh, we missed it."
This conversation happens fairly frequently when I'm driving somewhere with my friend, Pat, who directed the high school choirs that I've been accompanying for the past 14 years. I consider her a teacher extraordinaire, as well as one of my dearest friends, even if she isn't very good at directions.
Our partnership works for many reasons, and most likely because we complement each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Pat is the epitome of a right brained personality.
And me? You guessed it.
Once we ran into a former student at a restaurant. He introduced us to his friends by saying, "This is Ms. H, my music teacher, and this is Mrs. Rowan - she's Ms. H's left brain."
Yes, that was me, scurrying around behind her picking up the purse, the keys, the music she left behind. That was me, organizing the schedule, sending the registration forms for festival in on time, double checking the calendar to make sure there wasn't a concert she had forgotten to tell me about.
That was also me, listening to the choir sing beautifully, or watching a perfectly crafted musical or theatrical production she directed, and understanding that a mind so full of creative ideas simply didn't have room to store mundane things like keeping track of keys, or schedules - or directions!
Nevertheless, being the other half of someones brain gets tiring after a while. I took a "sabbatical" from my left brained duties, and went to work in a nice, quiet office where my organizational skills came to good use.
But I missed being around all that creative energy of hers, the way she sees rainbows in every rainy day, the way she seems to bring out the best in even the most troubled kid. She encourages my left brain to lean a little more to the right, prompting me to take a few of the creative risks that have enriched my life, and keeping me in balance with myself and the world.
And have I inspired her left brain to work a little more efficiently?
Yesterday, she told me about a recent shopping expedition to a local mall, where she was wandering through the parking lot headed toward her car when her eye was caught by a distant rainbow. Marveling at the unexpected beauty of this treat, she stowed her packages in the car and drove off, eyes still on the multi colored drama in the afternoon sky.
She left her purse on the ground in the parking lot.
Luckily, some other nice, left brained person found it, searched out her ID, and called her home. They met at a nearby coffee shop later on that day, where she retrieved her purse completely intact.
I guess it all balances out in the end.
here are more opposing views on left and right
"Oh, gosh, we missed it."
This conversation happens fairly frequently when I'm driving somewhere with my friend, Pat, who directed the high school choirs that I've been accompanying for the past 14 years. I consider her a teacher extraordinaire, as well as one of my dearest friends, even if she isn't very good at directions.
Our partnership works for many reasons, and most likely because we complement each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Pat is the epitome of a right brained personality.
And me? You guessed it.
Once we ran into a former student at a restaurant. He introduced us to his friends by saying, "This is Ms. H, my music teacher, and this is Mrs. Rowan - she's Ms. H's left brain."
Yes, that was me, scurrying around behind her picking up the purse, the keys, the music she left behind. That was me, organizing the schedule, sending the registration forms for festival in on time, double checking the calendar to make sure there wasn't a concert she had forgotten to tell me about.
That was also me, listening to the choir sing beautifully, or watching a perfectly crafted musical or theatrical production she directed, and understanding that a mind so full of creative ideas simply didn't have room to store mundane things like keeping track of keys, or schedules - or directions!
Nevertheless, being the other half of someones brain gets tiring after a while. I took a "sabbatical" from my left brained duties, and went to work in a nice, quiet office where my organizational skills came to good use.
But I missed being around all that creative energy of hers, the way she sees rainbows in every rainy day, the way she seems to bring out the best in even the most troubled kid. She encourages my left brain to lean a little more to the right, prompting me to take a few of the creative risks that have enriched my life, and keeping me in balance with myself and the world.
And have I inspired her left brain to work a little more efficiently?
Yesterday, she told me about a recent shopping expedition to a local mall, where she was wandering through the parking lot headed toward her car when her eye was caught by a distant rainbow. Marveling at the unexpected beauty of this treat, she stowed her packages in the car and drove off, eyes still on the multi colored drama in the afternoon sky.
She left her purse on the ground in the parking lot.
Luckily, some other nice, left brained person found it, searched out her ID, and called her home. They met at a nearby coffee shop later on that day, where she retrieved her purse completely intact.
I guess it all balances out in the end.
here are more opposing views on left and right
Labels: Sunday Scribblings
posted by Becca at Saturday, November 10, 2007
18 Comments:
Your friend sounds like an amazing teacher. The kind we need more of.
I'm suddenly not as frustrated with my right brained life. :) The left side kicks in pretty regularly and keeps me on track - a good thing because I'd stay happily lost in dreamy, puttery creativity otherwise, but it's the right-sided stuff that makes me happy.
I am being pulled apart by both sides of my brain. Sometimes it gets too much. I just give up on it!
This is a very interesting post. And I agree with gautami, getting both sides to work at the same rate can be very tiring.
i think you too are just a "match made in heaven" and should continue about this life in your prescribed roles.... how lovely to compliment another human being in such a wonderful way......
It's nice when we can balance one another out! Glad she retrieved her purse intact ... chasing rainbows, how wonderful! Peace, JP/deb
Good sunday scribbling.
Yes, it does all balance out in the end, doesn't it? We all need each other.
Really cute...guess us right brained folks need left brained friends. I do!
:-)
Great post, Becca, I think I'm rather like your friend......(GRIN).
It is true that we often connect with people who compliment us rather than mirror us.
Becca-
I am am fellow left brainer. You have far much more patience with the right brainers than I do.
Great scribbling! Love that story - it's so common and yet so individually garnished.
very interesting post. loved it.
Fantastic post ... your story made me smile, Thank YOU!
A very lucky righty your friend is, what with having you and a random stranger to lead the way.
Becca,
Isn't it neat when differences can be shared and each becomes greater for it?
Great vignette.
rel
Like you, I tend to be a left brained person. While I am learning to be more right brained, it doesn't always come easy. Balance, or complementary people, is the best. This was very well written.
Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. It gave me a chance to check your's out and I'm very impressed with your writing style. It captures the reader's interest and flows so smoothly. To be honest, I don't normally read too many of the prose posts because poetry is my thing but your writings are poetry! ~Linda
I think you are Right.
Better not to be Left behind.
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