Living with Dyslexia: A Curse or a Blessing?
“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” ~ Leonardo DaVinci
“I was, on the whole, considerably discouraged by my school days. It was not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the beginning of the race.” ~ Winston Churchill
As a child, words and letters simply danced across the page, like a secret language and code mystery lingering to be solved. The brain didn’t seem to connect together as learning these magical units of speech didn’t seem to match up right inside my head…
In the physical world and school, I was shy, hid away, hated to talk aloud because I couldn’t pronounce words right. I would just leave, spiritually going into the world of imagination instead; meeting with the muses of another time and world.
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” ~ Einstein
In this world, I didn’t struggle at saying hello or worry about pronouncing words correctly. This world was pure love and support. Stories and ideas came easier. Explaining them to others in the physical world… well, it didn’t. Yet I got it most of the time. I learned how to transcript this magic onto the page… perfectly and sometimes not quite.
“All forms of madness, bizarre habits, awkwardness in society, general clumsiness, are justified in the person who creates good art.” ~ Roman Payne
“Normal” ways of completing projects, ideas or writing don’t really work. Seeing the whole and breaking down the parts…and waiting for the whole to reveal itself. This dance of patience and delivery can cause anything from frustration and depression to illumination and pure inspiration.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ~ Einstein
Cultivating the spirit within the mind along with that true teamwork of mind, spirit, body… If one aspect becomes too heavy or controlling, the other aspects will rebel and only the sense of impeding completion of your project will hover in the air.
I have many of those. Brilliant ideas wait in the wings. I have learned to write down the outline of what I do know and put it away for another day. Frustration to complete those ideas still lingers as I am reminded of them. I tend to them lovingly, slowly and with determination.
“We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just thinking it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.” ~ John Lennon
I once wrote a blog on inspiration being like catching balloons floating by. And the more balloons you caught, the more you got. My hands are full and needing a free hand to complete them all. I don’t want to let go of any of them. I love them all.
As Elizabeth Gilbert explained in her brilliant TED talk on the elusive creative genius… on how the American poet, Ruth Stone said as she was working in the fields and the wind of a poem come towards her. She would run because she knew that if you didn’t write it down, that inspiration would find another poet to touch. I have felt that way… writing on pieces of napkins, paper, envelopes, or anything I could.
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” ~ Thomas Edison
Mind fast like the breeze during a storm, mixing the concept of one line drizzled into the next. It looks right to me, as in my mind’s eye… it is both ideas. This can confuse the reader or the editor wondering where I was writing this. I often get lots of suggestions on ways of correction from many.
Blessed with a mother who was a special education teacher helped me, as well as the one-on-one assistance in school, often not available today.
“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.” ~Einstein
I am not alone in this brilliant conspiracy of the Universe… many artists have had this divine creation glitch and have thrived. People whom I have quoted in this piece: DaVinci, Edison, Lennon, Churchill and Einstein are known to have had dyslexia… as well as Yeats, Picasso, and Fitzgerald, to name a few others.
I am in good company of brilliance for thinking outside the box with a creative flair… and in touch with a beautiful muse of pure magic. Observing for inspiration to improve the experience of mankind or to express the moment through those words on page or song.
Those moments dance in a golden field as we cultivate the divine into reality.
“By logic and reason we die hourly. By imagination we live.” ~ W. B. Yeats
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{Imagine me, imagining you}