Fire It to Wire It

{Pictured above is Nalu, the baby dolphin of his tribe}

Swimming with dolphins has been on my bucket list since I was approximately 7 years old, & I crossed it off at age 24. When I was a young girl, my room was a full-on decorated dolphin theme, with a draping dolphin beaded doorway, a glass dolphin nightstand, walls painted ocean blue, & bed comforter to match. I can tell you their skin is softer than my under forearms, their teeth as small as little razor blades, & their bellies as white as my unexposed-to-the-sun skin. They are gentle & bubbly. They are incredibly keen mammals, following commands (almost always) spot on, through constant hand gestures, touches, & noises. Their trainers work diligently with them to fire those instructions frequently, in order for their brains to wire accordingly. This doesn't just work with a dolphin's brain; we humans are just as alike. After any repeated coaching/direction/training, or doing of any sorts, a creation of habits emerge, & the brain is simply designed to wire based on what it's being fired, becoming automatic in its daily living.

Let me give you a more detailed scenario:

I have a (almost always, 99.5% of the time) very specific morning routine. First, I wake up & go straight to the bathroom to brush my teeth & put my hair up. Next, I eat a pinch full of pink Himalayan salt, swallow, then drink water (our bodies absorb water best with Himalayan or Celtic salt). Then, I come back into my room to make the bed, & put on shorts & a tank top, followed by sneakers at the front door. I exit the house, & walk 1.25-1.5 miles. Every single morning, without fail, without thought, without contemplation. I have fired an {enjoyable} explicit routine for my brain to wire into its automatic regiment, & I love it, as to why I do it. My brain loves this humdrum, too, as it can be on auto pilot for its first few moments of its every day. It's like clockwork - my brain knows exactly what to do/expect once it registers the alarm clock sound, because it has literally been daily wired. It's just how the dolphins also know precisely what command to do based on the ever so reiterated hand gestures, touches, or noises. But the difference between dolphins {not in their natural habitat} & humans is this: Humans fire & wire their own brains, or at least they should.

Now, let's move to a less detailed description, & broaden up the scope:

God's hand created each individual, & implemented a special set of love and dreams, that can be ignored or acknowledged, fired & wired.

How to ignore: place one's desires on the back burner for a more "practical" way of life. A life that has gone years without being asked what it is that you love, that you enjoy, that you get excited to step out of bed for, that you value, all because one has fallen into the socially accepted routine/ habitual response of "practicality." This world easily fires directions on who to be, what to love, where to invest ourselves to, when to act, what to value, etc., in turn, wiring our brain. Those dreams will go silent, if one allows them to. And that is the real catastrophe.

Why does one {who doesn't want it} have to have a "practical" {college degree, high paying career, 3 story home, unused vehicle, copious amounts in savings} way of life? Is it so wicked to want nontypical? Nah, friends, it's not. Is it so wicked to want typical? Nah, friends, it's not.

How to acknowledge: Recognize the love & dreams within oneself, & create a daily template to fire to one's brain. Like to read? Find a book. Find a spot. Find time. Like to cook? Find recipes. Find food. Find time. Like to explore? Find a pair of shoes. Find time. Like to volunteer? Find an organization. Find time. Find time. It is extremely challenging to locate said "time" if it's already being used up on the typical, practical, time fillers. This becomes a game of give & take - evaluating & reevaluating - what is worth it in each phase of life, which can be ever-changing, by the way. Some might say that said time is worth more than money, meaning one would have to give up materialism in order to take the time. Others might say the opposite. This isn't a voting type of decision, like homecoming queen or prom king. It doesn't matter one bit if it would be lovely for someone else to live. What matters is this: is it compatible with how God made said individual, & what He called them to? Does it bring joy to one's life, even in the most nontypical way? One of the greatest delights in life is walking away from what someone or something may have told you how to fire & wire your life.

Some of us are made to be faster, some slower. I will absolutely always be slower than, let's say, Clay. He holds the good ol' Montoursville middle school mile record, with a 5 minute 13 second mile. Yeah, he was made to be fast, & I wasn't. I often say, "I hope our kids get your genes." Some of us are made to write, some to speak, some to build, some to nurture.

I love walk, a lot. I love to write. I love babies. I love to coach tennis. I love to explore. I love to smell nature in its purest form, in the trees, in the mountains, in the ocean. I love time. Some of the world would take one look at my life & LOL in my face, because it's not "practical." It's not chasing after the typical American husslin' dream. But guess what? You can live on a farm or in the city. You can live in the US or in Spain. You can go to college or not at all. You can eat kale or cookies. You can wear stilettos or slippers. You can have kids or none at all. You can make your own life. Even if it's already made from those "practical" habits that have now been so engrained into one's brain, so much that you're just wired that way, on auto pilot. You can remake your own life, by firing new, to wire new. My favorite thing to say: you can go against that grain. I genuinely love living against that weathered, wood colored granule. Unlike those precious dolphins, we get to decide how we fire & wire. So, what do you love? What have you been living solely because its been fired to you from outside voices, becoming your brains wiring path? The world will tell you how to live, if you let it.

But it's never too late to walk toward what you love, even if it means re-firing in order to re-wire.