My name is Abbey, and there are a lot of unique things about me. First, I'm a right-brained learner. This basically means that I'm blessed with high imagination and cursed with anxiety. Second, I'm a Latter-Day Saint, who is amazed by the goodness of the Lord and all He does for me in my life. Third, I am an unschooler. The biggest lesson I learned from this education is to love learning and to pursue my passions. This blog is a collection of personal musings that will probably fall into one of these catogories. Thanks for visiting!


*All stamps courtesy of Mirz123

I am a Right-Brainer

My name is Abbey, and I am a right-brainer.  My mom is an advocate for right-brainers, and has many blog posts on the subject, such as "An Introduction to the Creative, Right-Brained Learner."  Here, I will share what being right-brained means for me, along with its strengths and weaknesses.

What is a right-brainer?  Every brain in every person's head has a left side and a right side.  Each side of the brain functions in a different way.  Everyone uses both sides of their brains, but most people are dominate on one side.

Core traits of each side of the brain

                                          Left Brain                            Right Brain
                                          Reality                                Imagination
                                          Word based                        Picture based
                                          Sequential                          Global
                                          Logical                                Intuitive


By the way, here is a compilation of my "You Might Be Right-Brained If..." comics.  Most of the images were acquired from iwastesomuchtime.com



Growing Up Right-Brained

Ever since I was little, I've had the gift of creating entire worlds with my imagination.  Mind you, this isn't just your average, run-of-the-mill imagination I'm talking about.  I can create 3-D images as vivid and real as a movie on your television screen.  I can see, hear, feel, even smell the worlds and characters I create.  I can evoke emotions such as joy, fear, sorrow, and anger in my characters that I can feel in me, too.  In my own mind, these places and people are as real as you and me.  It doesn't take much for me to leave the ho-hum reality of life behind and enter a world that is completely mine.  And this isn't just a childhood thing, either.  I can still create worlds today.
This gift of Imagination has allowed me to write fantasy novels.  It took me a while, but I learned how to channel the images in my head through my fingers and into words.  I love to write!  There is, however, a downside to having such a gift.  I can get freaked out by my own imagination.  And being anxious doesn't help.  Scary movies can haunt me long after the television is turned off, and walking alone in the dark is a nightmare.  I know there are no such things as zombies, but once my imagination runs off, the possibility of undead monsters jumping out of the woods becomes, well, a reality.
But the biggest downside that my imagination has is it can separate me from reality.  Have you ever seen a child that seems so detached from everything that's happening around her?  She isn't interested in being social, and tends to play by herself?  Well, that was me.  My gift of imagination was so strong, and the worlds I created with it were so interesting, that reality just paled in comparison.  I decided that developing my gift was more important than trying to figure people out.  In one sense, one could consider this a good thing, in it's right time and place.  I didn't become sucked up in the teenage social scene, and I certainly didn't get into any boy trouble.  I was blissfully happy most of the time, and I had less anxiety.
Of course, one cannot live by imagination alone.  When the time was right, I developed better social skills and learned how to play the game called life.  Sometimes it was hard.  After all, reality is a much harsher world than the ones I ever created.  But now my head is "out of the clouds" and I like being a part of the real world.  I like people and I love my life.  I'm married, have a job, and do normal people stuff.  Every once in a while, though, I still like to visit my other worlds.  There, I can still create the stories and characters that fuel my passion and bring joy to my life.

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