I have spent most of my life in a state of misunderstanding. That is both a good and a bad thing. I think it’s cost me more relationships than I’d like to admit, but it has allowed me to live the life of a creative. Not sure which is good or bad, by the way.
I never really understood how important it is that I misunderstand things. I have actually done a bit of thought on this topic. And I’ve come to the conclusion that all the greatest minds in the world, from the classic authors with names like Dickens, Hemingway and Carroll, to those inventors who have brought us such things as electric light and the telephone, have misunderstood the world they lived in.
Bear with me for a minute, as I walk you through my theory of Misunderstandivity.
The ordinary mind seeks clarity. If something isn’t clear, the individual will ask questions and continue to clarify until everything is crystal clear, at least to them.
I’ve known many of these people and I have had relationships both good and bad with them. They always seems to want me to see their point of view. Not agree with it, necessarily. But at least understand where they are coming from.
What they don’t know is that is virtually impossible.
Let’s say a bit of data comes into both of our minds at the same time. A mind seeking clarity will process it something like this:
A leads to B, B leads to C and C to… wait, don’t understand D… ask question, ask follow up question… now I can see how D fits.
My brain works a little differently.
I will take A, B, C and D and mix them all together, like there’s a big Waring blender set on frappé in my head. Add in other non-essential data, trivia and tidbits. Then whip them all around until done.
What is done? That’s the fun part. I never know. Sometimes, it’s the name of a new company, such as my own, CommuniCreations (communications and creative blended together) or a client’s, such as Synnovatia (synergy and innovation). Other times it’s a new idea, such as a sound effects fob for your keychain so you can always have a theme song to match something you’re going to do or say (sad music for a break up, a fanfare for honey I’m home, etc.
I’m sure this is how it happened inventors like old Ben Franklin. Wanting to get a little kite flying time after helping to write the Declaration of Independence, he realizes that he doesn’t want to lose his house key. Sure Thomas Jefferson has a spare, but why bother him again. So he ties it to the string of the kite and – bam – he discovers electricity in the process!
While it can help me in my work (in case you don’t know what I do, I sit at home, make things up and people send me checks), misunderstanding my surroundings provides me with surprising improvisational skills. When I’m performing in public, I can be speaking with someone I’ve never met before and everything they say goes simultaneously into the Brain Blender and out comes a stream of one liners and plays on words that I’m not even conscious of. They just spew out as if by magic.
Same happens at home. It’s mental pinball as I jump from one unassociated topic to a misunderstanding and then on to a distraction or two for good measure.
I often say that I suffer from Verbal Tourettes. My mind and my mouth are connected together without any roadblocks or stop signs to stop or slow the nonstop stream of auditory traffic.
It vexes some people, I think. I was once asked by a now ex-something or other to teach others improvisation. I said, “I can’t.” It’d be akin to Robin Williams teaching a class on how his brain naturally functions. He doesn’t really think his brains works differently than yours or mine. But it does.
It took me a long time to be comfortable with my misunderstandings. To really own them and nurture them. Sure, it can tick others off. But it can also make them laugh uncontrollably, especially when I misinterpret and misunderstand at the same time. Then it’s a realy fun house in my head. I wish you could all visit it sometime.
Here’s a little snippet…
It’s whirring along right now. A little voice in my head is telling me what to write and my fingers obey. No filter… head to hand (I know there’s a dirty joke in those last three words). Then it pauses for a moment and starts right back up, trying to simultaneously misinterpret and misunderstand as much as possible. It’s kind of cool to be. I suppose others would find it scary and seek to be institutionalized.
If we meet someday, I will probably misunderstand you, at least once or twice. If you’re one of those really logical, A to B to C types, I can guarantee that I will misunderstand most of what you tell me. It will be whisked, frappéd, blended, mixed and frothed until it pops back out, ready to be enjoyed… well, at least by me.
Wait, my head is beginning to sound a lot like Starbucks. Ooh, I need coffee now.
Somewhere in Florida with a pinball machine brain in a constantly in TILT mode,
– Robb
* And as I typed TILT, I initially typed TIT. And for some reason that sounded right too.