Exercise Your Brain Too !

Aloha All !

Several weeks ago, Heather and I decided to take a Video Production class at Olelo. For me, I could learn about the video camera and get a beginning course in editing, while actually producing a short, first work. For Heather, she would get to try out Final Cut Pro, Mac's editing software, while brushing-up on her other video production skills. After all, she's an old hand at this video stuff.

It would be an understatement to say that for me, the class was INTENSE. What was I thinking when I signed-up? The class was going to be easy? After all, I hadn't been in a classroom situation since Hector was a pup ! It had been over 35 years. Oh boy.

Well, initially things went okay. The initiation/orientation segment went well and I scraped-thru the camera part of the course. Now for editing...oh, boy. It would have helped to have been a little better  with basic computer skills like the rest of the class (average age 35), which got me behind-the-8 ball from the get-go. Our instructor was really good, but he wanted to be the first to have 100% finish, so speed was of the essence. The pressure was on ! Now I couldn't even drop out (dnf to you runners). By the end of the editing session, my brain was toast...charred, black, toast !

That night I didn't sleep all that well, worrying about what was going to happen the next night when we put all this newly-learned knowledge into practice and edited and finished our "first work".

It didn't take long to find out that my worst fears were warranted and that the four hours of class were not going to be easy. Here we all were, sitting in front of our computers, just like real video production people, with the exception of one old guy frantically searching for the right key to press next. Looking around, everybody else was just working away, and I was sitting there trying to find that right key to be able to continue on. I thought my brain was about to explode ! At one point I was so frustrated that I faked going to the bathroom and just set in the stall trying to get my wits about me. Sitting there, my brain was dominating my consciousness. It was screaming ! It reminded me of exactly how my hamstrings have screamed at me many times, when pushing them to the limit and beyond, on a long training run. All of a sudden it was very clear. From a stimulation standpoint, the brain was no different than a hamstring, a bicep or a quad. To keep strong, they ALL need exercise ! After a few minutes, I returned and with a calmer, more optimistic attitude, was able to calmly think through the steps and finish the work. I went to the class to learn basic video production but I came out learning so much more. I learned something I had never expected to learn. I learned about the brain.

Over the past few weeks since the class, my eye has caught several articles about the importance of exercising the brain. I'll do my best to share with you the better ones along the way. For me, this is exciting ! I hope it will for you.

Tomorrow night, Heather and I leave for a quick trip to Turkey. We will be accompanying a group of Cancer Research doctors to some villages in the Cappadocia area of Turkey, where an unusually high-incidence of mesothelioma cancer has caused many deaths. We will be documenting this with video footage. Don't worry, Heather will be doing ALL the editing. It should be a very interesting trip and I get to play cameraman (but Heather gets to use the GOOD camera). Oh well.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget to exercise your brain, too !

Aloha !

Don