Tag: philosphy

Having an Idea – Guy Claxton

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The mother does not engineer her child’s intrauterine development, but she influences it enormously through her lifestyle and her sensitivity, her anxieties, appetites and attitudes, her history and her constitution. Who she is, and the physical and emotional environment that she herself inhabits, affects the nature and the quality of the sanctum that she provides for the growing form of life within her. And so it seems to be with intuition: there are conditions which render the mental womb more or less hospitable to the growth and birth of ideas; and differing ways in which, and extents to which, different people are able, wittingly and unwittingly, to provide thsoe conducive conditions. The more clearly we can identify what these conditiona are, the more able we shall be to see how they can be fostered.

From Hare Brain and Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less

Meditation and mindfulness are ways to foster intuitive awareness and intelligence. It allows our brain to synthesize and absorb information and feelings.  The book defends intuitive and creative intelligence, pooh-bear thinking, through an analytical “d-mode” rabbit logic. It shows the value of thinking differently as the need arises, “abiding in uncertainty” for fuzzy problems and seeking clear solutions for defined problems.

Deciding whether a problem is fuzzy or defined may require both.

Related to the complexity about how to think about X, Claxton explains the fallacy of dream interpretation according to James Hillman.

It is the very nature of nature of dreams to hint and allude. ‘An image always seems more profound, more powerful and more beautiful than the comprehension of it.’ To ask of a dream “What does it mean?” is as misguided as to ask the same question of a painting or a poem – or a sunset, come to that. “To give a dream the meaning of a rational mind is … a kind of dreading up and hauling all the material from one side of the bridge to the other. It is an attitude of wanting from the uncounsious, using it to gain information, power, energy, exploiting it for the sake of the ego: make it mine, make it mine.’ The proper attitude towards a dream, according to analytical psychology, is to ‘befriend’ it: ‘to participate in it, to enter into its imagery and mood, to …play with, live with, carry and become familiar with – as one would do with a friend.’ So, ‘the first think in this non-interpretive approach to the dream is that we give time and patience to it, jumping to no conclusions, fixing it in no solutions … This kind of exploration meets the dream on its own imaginative ground and give it a chance to reaveal itself further.’

Thank you, Kathy, my friend, for recommending this book! Looking forward to reading, Intelligence in the Flesh: Why Your Mind Needs Your Body Much More Than It Thinks.

May we all foster  creative conditions, have good  idea babies and befriend our dreams,

Hungryphil

Squashed Strawberry Cake and Baked Fudge Pie

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Published recipes are tested and idealized concepts executed with skill. The application of such perfection are, shall we say sometimes, less than perfect. Most always, still delicious, most always, opportunities for learning and creative adjustment. In the spirit of sharing the tasty and the ugly, just thought I’d report on my weekend baking experiments. I tried two recipes from recent issues of Southern Living Magazine. As I have previously admitted, I am incapable of following recipes. It might be symptomatic of my general aversion to authority and direction. So…. when I say I’m reporting on executing recipes, I mean, I’m confessing how I subverted or mutated the recipes, for better or worse. At any rate, I eat the evidence. Don’t judge me.

The first recipe was from the Community Cookbook section of the magazine for Fudge Pie. For the most part I followed the recipe. I was so proud of myself until I realized that I was supposed to mix in the pecans (and not merely scatter them on top like a pecan pie). No worries, the pecans got toasty and the pie was just as delicious (I imagine). Will I mix the pecans in next time? I don’t know.

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The second recipe was far more ambitious. It was the Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake on the cover of last month’s issue. Mine does NOT look like the cover. My analysis of the visual discrepancy identifies three deviations from the recipe:

First, I did not use the 9 inch pan as directed. The 8 inch pan yielded a taller cake. A situation which would not be so bad except that the cake would not fit in my covered cake container. So, yes, I squished the cake (a bit) for the lid to fit. I’m not sure how detrimental this deviation will be at dessert time. I may have to pretend its a rustic strawberry shortcake or maybe I can dump it in a trifle bowl. Some creative adjustment may be required.

Second, when I squished the caked down, the delicious strawberry jam (yes! the recipe called for me to MAKE the strawberry jam) leaked out. Again, a situation, I’m guessing the magazine recipe did not call for. Instead of delicately sitting between the cake layers like a glossy red sweet and fruity buffer, the “jelly” behaved more like an oozing red sauce bleeding out of the white and red speckled cloud. Hmmmm. Was I supposed to boil the “jam” liquid more? Fear not, this is just another moment of creative rescue. I’ve decided to serve the left over red strawberry lemon syrup…yes…”syrup” not “jam”  as a drizzle over each serving of cake (spooned or sliced, as the first condition dictates).

Third, I did not add the red food coloring in the frosting. The cake looks good anyway. Just not like the image on the magazine cover. As you can somewhat see below (I’m afraid to take off the lid for a picture!), reality on the right and ideality on the left. I would eat both. But, my very own tasty ugly reality that I brought into being is what I have sitting in the refrigerator waiting to be devoured. Can’t I make my cake, have my cake and eat it too? Yay to glorious imperfect making and …….eating. Happy cooking and eating everyone!

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