Connections - the Joy of Experience

I love connecting. The human brain is a maze of connections and these connections grow and are strengthened by experience. As children we start linking things together both physically and mentally.

The Big M has a connection with with junk food, Mum with love, Dad with fun and so on. These connections help us to make sense of the world we live in. Recently we went to buy some furniture and the seller had her two children with her, aged three and five. The five year old asked me what I did for a job and I replied that I worked with computers. Immediately he responded, "You live two streets over!". Now I actually lived 250 miles away but because the man who fixed the boy's computer had a house two streets away he made a connection, albeit an erroneous one. His sister then asked where we were from. I said that we had just come back to New Zealand from living in England. She said, "You must know my friend Michael, he lives in England". Again erroneous but based on a connection she had already established.

Over time however, these connections multiply and become increasingly useful to us in making sense of what surrounds us. We learn that there are many Michaels who live in England, and many people who work with computers. We learn to filter information and make connections. This increases the sophistication of our deduction. Michael in England, becomes Michael Clark who lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, works at Freeman Hospital and whose post code is NE3 2YU.

I am now in my mid fifties and my connection base is well filled and very effective. The connection light comes up often matching and threading the links between disparate data points. My lifetime travel experiences shed light on a book I am reading that allows me to add the sounds, smells and sights of places I have visited. This allows me to compare and contrast places, times and experiences. Is Canton 2012, the same as the Canton I visited in 1982? What has changed? why? when? questions start to fire off forming more connections as I look for the answers.

One of the tools I use to increase the number and strength of my connections is Wikipanion. I have this application on my iPhone and when I get a quiet moment I start reading articles. When I come to a link of interest I bookmark it for later reading and carry on. These hyperlinks can take me on an exciting journey and educate me at the same time. I tend to find that the links vary in subject, challenge, historical context and vocabulary. I can certainly recommend this application which you can purchase from the iTunes store.

So treasure the connections you have and endeavour to make more. It will enrichen your life.