The Art of Noticing

Darin Jawahar

On the Plastic Mind

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Hello Readers- and welcome to my final blog of reflections .

Throughout this series, I’ve had the privilege of delving into not only many of my passions, but my own mind.

And though a lot of what I discussed centered around the intricacies of our mind, and our brains ability to remain neuroplastic, this week, I found myself wondering something slightly different—where did this all begin?

Who am I if not the kid who hides beneath the blankets after my alarm goes off? If not a reflection of my dreams of falling from tall heights? If not someone who feels shut-down fear before dancing on a stage that I set myself up to perform on? Someone shaped by a society where time feels scarce? Someone who reaches for his phone before anything else?

It’s hard to tell where I begin and where everything else ends.

But the more I’ve paid attention, the less my mind or consciousness feels like something I simply just exist with. I believe our minds are built. Constructed by my family, friends, memories. Not only that, by environment and habits, personal temperament, etc.

And it’s true that neurons that fire together wire together. Our brains do way more than just keep our experiences in storage— they reorganize and rewire themselves around it. Funnily enough, this happens to be the simple part. The less simple part is having to actually experience it. We can trust science, which explains neuroplasticity itself, but science doesnt necessarily talk about what to do with neuroplasticity.

Nobody’s mind is a complete blank canvas- we are human. We’re all predisposed with genetics that, with awareness, we can hopefully recognize. However, to understand ourselves further is a question of what is learned and what is not.

I’ve realized I do not need to strip everything about myself away to find some original version of “who I am”. I’ve done that one too many times, and have sent myself into a spiral in doing so. Perhaps there is no original version of myself waiting underneath. Perhaps its just this ongoing process I’m experiencing. A process of exposure, reinforcement, deterrence, and who knows what else.

I’m still figuring it all out, but I am content with that. I enjoy this pattern recognition. And hopefully, with more practice, I can notice more patterns within myself, our society, and the plastic mind.

Unsure of whether I’ll expand on this series later or perhaps take a new avenue, but I wanted to take a final moment to appreciate anyone who has read any of these notices so far. Thank you