Winston Churchill, President Bush, and Brain Health
What do Winston Churchill, President George W Bush and a healthy brain have in common? How does that effect you, a person who isn't in charge of an entire country? Can it help you as you deal with stress, heavy responsiblity and even loss? Find out in the blog today.
Kevin and I recently attended an event where former President George W. Bush was the speaker. As expected, he touched on the high points and challenging seasons of his place in history. He gave inspirational quotes and threw in enough humor to make his speech entertaining.
But then he brought up something unexpected. "43" talked about why he took up painting after retiring from holding the most powerful position in the world.
"I was inspired by Winston Churchill and his book, Painting as a Pastime."
I have that book! I thought.
Painting as a Pastime is a thirty-page essay by Winston Churchill, with a selection of full-color paintings done by him in the back. It was reprinted from a larger collection of essays in 1932 from the book, Amid These Storms.
Churchill wrote of taking up painting after stepping down from a position of influence, of the struggle of having all the knowledge and training, but no longer having any power. "At the moment when every fiber of my being was inflamed to action, I was forced to remain a spectator...."
Reading that line, I understood President Bush's interest in the book.
But what if you don't hold the fate of an entire country in your hands?
The book also contained helpful insight for those of us who carry responsibility in our spheres of influence, where we may struggle to turn off our brains and relax.
Churchill believed that those who deal with "mental overstrain," who "over prolonged periods have to bear exceptional responsibilities and discharge duties upon a very large scale" can "wear out a particular part of his mind by continually using it and tiring it."
He recommended not just rest, but giving the tired parts of the brain a break by using other parts. In fact, Churchill never found it helpful to tell his brain to have a good rest. He found his mind kept busy, worrying about the things it always worried about.
Churchill needed something that required new pathways in his brain. So, he took up painting. As did President Bush.
The more public your life, the more you need an outlet for your brain, according to Churchill.
How Can You Improve Your Brain Health?
In an article by Interesting Engineering, several different hobbies and activities are recommended to boost brain power, including learning another language, exercise, and playing a musical instrument. Even doing a daily crossword puzzle, can increase the brain's neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to form new neural connections, increasing the brain's flexibility to change.
Travel can also help build that flexibility, according to an article by Michael Grothaus. If you can't afford a trip to Hawaii, taking new routes home from work or on your daily walk, can help increase new brain pathways.
Not only have I found this wisdom to be beneficial as a public person, but I also found it to be a lifeline when I was walking through loss and grief. In that season, my brain slogged along when faced with normal routines and behaviors. Sometimes I even clung to the familiar when life became overwhelming. I struggled to decompress.
Part of my stepping forward with healing was learning to engage in new routines and pastimes. I didn't pursue painting, but went after writing and taking photos of the desert. These pastimes brought healing for me and helped create new pathways after loss. They were a source of improving my brain health.
Like Churchill, I discovered by choosing something to challenge my brain, "the old undue grip [in my brain] relaxed and the process of recuperation and repair began."
Are you struggling with excess worry and responsibility? Is your brain tired? Overworked? Maybe the answer isn't just rest, but learning something new.
What Do You Think?
So I am curious. During a hard or exhausting season have you found it beneficial to learn a new skill to build additional pathways in your brain? Does that help you decompress? What works for you to improve brain health?
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As a reminder, I have this incredible download of desert photos with quotes about hope, that you can access here.
Since it is breast cancer awareness month, it would be a great time to order my book, Under a Desert Sky, to give to a friend.
