How Pattern Recognition Boosts Learning and Creativity in Everyday Life (BKI 43)

Hi, this is Diana. Bright knowledge instants give you one thing you can do today to move your creativity ahead. And I have found in learning and creativity, which are so connected, a major factor in feeling engaged and successful in those is pattern recognition. So pattern recognition is being able to discern the bigger patterns behind what you're doing. This might be something like narrative arc, which is the arc or the form that stories tend to take.

We'll see this in novels, we'll see it in movies, we'll even see it in music. Another major pattern is the golden mean, or the golden ratio, which is a proportion that we find throughout nature and throughout great art. And we instantly perceive it as something of great beauty and integrity. Even if we don't know what the golden ratio actually is, it seems to be almost a primal pattern.

So these are big ideas. How do we actually grab hold of them on a daily basis? Well, I have some things here from my house, and I'd like to show you how I think about pattern recognition and how I use everyday life to perceive patterns and also to confirm patterns. Is this really a pattern or is it just kind of something that happens? So I'll start really basic here.

What do we got? We've got a cookbook, Fishes and dishes. This one is called. So when you're cooking, think about all the ingredients that you put together. As you put together contrasting ingredients, things become of greater interest. So if one dish has only one ingredient, it's not so compelling, is it? When you have, say something sweet and you add a little bit of salt in it, it becomes exponentially more powerful.

It doesn't become sort of less good. Even though it's potentially less sweet, in a way, it's almost more sweet. So by adding contrast to your work, whatever that is in music. So if a piece is loud the entire time and there's no respite, there's no soft section, it's less powerful than one with contra contrast in it. When we think about a story, if a story just takes one tone the entire time, it almost sounds like a monologue.

So even when we're speaking, we like to say our piece and then add a little silence in for contrast. So cooking shows you about contrast. And that's just one thing about cooking. There are other things too about it. And what about dance? So this is my beaten up tango shoe. When I do dancing, it shows me things about staying on my axis and when I'm staying centered, which, you know, is a cornerstone of everything.

I believe in learning and creativity. When I stand on My own axis, I have tremendously more engagement and I have more power, more confidence, more creativity. And in dance, it's especially fascinating because you also are connecting with another person. So even though you're strong within yourself, you're also receptive to another person. And this flow of action and receptivity is something that fuels all my work every single day.

So I don't need to feel guilty about going dancing because I'm actually working. Should we say? Well, I'm certainly pattern recognizing. What about cleaning up your house? Well, this is a book called Feng Shui. And Feng Shui is a Chinese method of understanding how energy flows in your space. And as we perceive how energy moves throughout our rooms and how there are certain intentions with each space, this can really improve your learning and your creativity.

So something that I've noticed in my harp circle is that. So it's my teaching circle, which I also learn a great deal in myself. When our members create a special space for their harp, suddenly they practice and they create more because there's intention and energy in that space. And that shows me the grand pattern of literal energy flow. It's that big. And that can happen just from tidying up your house.

What about yoga? So I'm a big yoga fan, as you know, and that has really taught me the pattern of honoring your body. I have a tendency to be very much in my head or in my feelings, but not necessarily in my body. And yoga has taught me the power of being in my body. When I am engaged in my breathing and I'm actually doing all the yoga poses, I feel so much more confident, I feel much more alive, I feel more patient, I feel more generous.

I feel like I learn and create better because my whole body is engaged. And that taught me the tremendous pattern of the wisdom of the body and the wisdom of honoring the state you're in. Knowing that the state physical state you're in really affects your learning and creativity. And therefore to optimize that, to honor your body when it's hungry or thirsty, when it needs rest, and to also listen to your body.

So there's another major pattern recognition. What about books? Well, I just finished. Can you believe I hadn't read this yet? East of Eden. I live in California, right close to Salinas. And what a book. And what did this teach me? Well, it taught me the power of myth. And that's also something I'm always very interested in. But this was a modern day version of it. And so he's using sort of the story of Cain and Abel.

And these generations of people who are living in this book, and how the power of family and myth resonate through the ages and how they have a massive effect on everything we do. This is teaching me the grand pattern of community. What community and myth will do together and how interconnected those are. So I have a few other things here around me, but I'll leave those for another day.

Because patterns are all around us and we don't have to go searching for them, just in the regular things that you're doing every day. Cooking, dancing, yoga, reading. See what patterns emerge for you, knowing that by perceiving those patterns, you are able then to translate that into stronger learning. Because things don't seem scattershot. They're not random. Music is a vast topic, and that's the topic that I'm expert in.

I know now that many things are actually connected. It's not a million disjointed details. They're actually grand threads that run throughout music. And when we touch on those, suddenly everything starts weaving together and we don't feel overwhelmed. And I know this is true for every other field in the world. So your learning and your creativity become stronger with pattern recognition. Look at the patterns that are happening just in your everyday life today.

You don't need to spend any extra time searching for them. Just notice as you go about your day and see what is revealed to you as a grand pattern. Bye.