Wait, what? Did I honestly use the term ‘drugged up’ in the title to this? Me, one of the most straight laced people you will meet? Yes. Yes, I did, but allow me to explain.
Since I returned to this journey into blogging, I have hoped to inspire those who read, but also to improve on what I offer. I am not only humbled but feel blessed that some of those who have acknowledged and even deemed my contributions worthy of following are well established bloggers. Today, since the weather outside makes me hesitant to wander forth into the wide open spaces, I decided to visit some of their sites.
For the last several hours I have been exploring and learning. Alice fell down a rabbit hole into an incredible place called Wonderland. All around her she found fantastical creatures that assisted in her journey to discovered herself. In the past several hours, I have felt a kinship with Alice. The difference being the fantastical creatures were amazing insights, profound statements and comments that touched a chord within myself. One statement compared words to music and that the written word has to have a rhythm and flow just like music does. Immediately within my mind I am seeing not only words like notes on a scale, but also like the colors on a pallet waiting to be brushed across a fresh canvas.
As I finished reading each blog post my mind craved the next. It was as if I could not move to the next link quickly enough. I have always enjoyed researching information. Someone once even commented on my ability to find information. For me, being able to do so, brought pleasure. Now I have a better understanding as to why. Along the way, a statement was made that learning releases dopamine. What is that you ask? According to webmd: Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter. Your body makes it, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. That’s why it’s sometimes called a chemical messenger. Dopamine plays a role in how we feel pleasure. It’s a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan. When we are doing something we enjoy, our brain releases this, creating that pleasurable feeling. A mental reward. The pleasure we find, driving us to keep going, to learn more, to actually crave more. We get lost in the activity that is giving us such pleasure.
Another definition found online explains it this way; Dopamine is an organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. Dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Dopaminergic signaling is associated with reward-motivated behavior and motor control with dysfunction of the dopamine system leading to numerous diseases.
It is that ‘organic chemical in the brain that creates that pleasure response that causes everything around us to fade away as we traverse our own rabbit hole. Where time is lost but the final results are worth it. Those times when we are forced to surface, we find ourselves momentarily disjointed from the world. Having to reset our mind to the here and now.
It matters not whether we are athletes, inventors, artists or student. When we find pleasure in what we are doing, we crave more time down our own perspective rabbit holes. The place where we can meet the many fantastical creatures who will help us to find and better ourselves.
Words from The Dirt Road 