My Brain

Verbal communication drives me to the brink of crazy... written communication borders on being committed.

When I was a child learning how to tell time, I was given a word problem.

Jane gets home from school everyday, how long does it take her to eat an apple? 15min 30min or 2 hours?

My answer?

4 o'clock.

Every time I tell this story people burst out laughing. And then I see the look of confusion. At that point I explain. I got home at 3:45 every evening from school. If it took me 15min to eat the apple I would be done by 4 o'clock.

The biggest challenge for me has been learning how to communicate verbally with people. At times I feel like the dumb kid in class who's just smart enough to know it. With massive IQ testing, my teachers attempted to figure out what level of retarded to put me into. Turned out my genius was unchartable. I was HIGHLY visual spacial.

Every problem I've run into stems from this difference. It's a certain feeling I get and I know in those moments that I'm missing some important detail. When it comes to me, I have an "Aha" moment and things fall into place after that. 

What people say, is rarely what they are actually thinking. As I've developed, I learned how to read people in a very empathic way. I just 'know' what's going on when I watch. I can't explain it. I only know that I get an overall snap shot of them and all the many layers. And, that is how I connect.

My friends and family are constantly confused by my conclusions about things. But they've learned to ride the wave and wait for the explanation. And because I have no idea how to communicate the way others do, I over do it.

Einstein was once walking down a path and came acrossed a friend. They chatted for a while about theory and soon said their goodbyes for the day. Einstein stopped his friend and asked "When you saw my walking, was I walking towards my house or away from it?" His friend told him he was walking away, to which he responded, "Oh good, I've eaten lunch then".

I understand that oh so well.