This past weekend I went to the Orange County Super Fair. One of the attractions there was the The Adventures of Al's Brain (Weird Al Yankovic). The show is a 3-D journey through the human brain. One aspect of the show really captured my attention and that was the concept of NEUROPLASTICITY.
Plasticity, or neuroplasticity, is the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences. As we learn, we acquire new knowledge and skills through instruction or experience. In order to learn or memorize a fact or skill, there must be persistent functional changes in the brain that represent the new knowledge. 
The ability of the brain to change with learning is what is known as neuroplasticity.
While it may seem obvious, I think the obvious lesson in this concept needs to be restated in the context of The Artist's World. 
Let's face it: It's so easy to get into a nice and cozy comfortable little niche as an artist. If it's selling, it must be good. If people like it, it must be good. I made the cover of a magazine--I am the bomb. You know what I'm talking about: If it's broke, don't fix it, right?
Wrong.
Sure, it's necessary to reflect on lessons learned and to apply those same lessons to future success, but I think there needs to be a degree of willingness on the part of the artist to expand his or her path as an artist. Veer to the right or left every now and then. Heck, create an entirely different path when necessary.
The new adventures or paths we take will certainly expand our thought process (or rather, our neuronic pathways)--thoughts and knowledge that can never be taken away. As our knowledge and experience expands, so does our mind.
Both physically AND metaphysically.
I recently set out on a 5-day trip to San Francisco because I needed to "get away." I needed to take my camera and leave everything behind. I needed to wander around a city and just take it all in. It was a creative meditation of some sort that enabled me to not only take in new knowledge of a city I hold dear to my heart, but I was able to expand my understanding of myself as well.
(I recently posted this video, but here it is again, for anybody new to the blog)
PIER 7 AND BEYOND from onward films on Vimeo.
By no means do I even remotely think that I am qualified to offer self-help advice, but I would like to encourage each and every one of you to take stock of your life at this very moment. Are you where you want to be? Are you happier than you were one year ago? Two years ago? Ten years ago? Did life turn out the way you had planned? Did you even have a plan? If you had to define yourself in one sentence, what would that sentence look like? It shouldn't be that difficult if you really know who you are. Would that sentence reveal the "real" you or the way-you-want-to-be-perceived you?
Think about that for a moment, because there is a huge difference.
After you take stock of your life, go online and find a conference or a workshop that you want to attend. Maybe it's a trip you "need" to take. Maybe it's something you just NEED to do. What would help you expand those neurons, and in doing so, realize that it is an investment. Not a getaway or a vacation. You are investing in your future happiness and your future awareness of your craft and the world around you.
Put a jar aside in your house and start saving, if it's going to take money. Set out to expand your mind. Your neurons. Your knowledge. And in doing so, remember that the new knowledge you will gain can NEVER be taken away.
No take backs in the game of life and new knowledge--just a step closer to the realization of personal happiness and success.
Now go on and move ONWARD with your bad selves!
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