BRAIN ACTIVITY, PART II . . .

I am beginning to understand better how it works, this odd thing called the brain.

I often have thought that it's so nice in theory: to keep your mind clear and alert and healthy, even to ward off age-related dementia, it's good to keep your brain active. Do a crossword, talk a lot with different kinds of people, read a variety of books, change up your daily routine to keep your mind on its toes. It all seemed like good theoretical sense.

But people! It's TRUE! I am living proof of it, I think. I'm sure of it, in fact.

I have spent the past several months forgetting a great multitude of things. This has been particularly disturbing and traumatic for me because I never forget things. I don't say that arrogantly, as if to imply that my brain power is somehow greater than anyone else's. No, in fact, I largely think that the strength of my memory is mostly tied to my personality and not the capacity of my intellect. Maybe that's why it's so traumatic for me, to have this very integral part and extension of my personality be so radically changed; to have this part of me be so unlike me.

I thought I would chalk it up to stress. Being single among a gaggle of married friends, being childless among a host of mothers, owning a home that costs money to maintain, finding a job that seems most elusive at times, dealing with family, friends, church, bills, neighbors, cars, the weather. Whatever. It's all stress, and it all has the capability of addling my mental processes.

But no. I think it's more simple than all of that. I think I am losing brain power and the airtight seal around my memory because my brain is not being exercised. I am not waking up as early as I used to, causing myself to be alert for a set number of hours (and my, how the human body thrives on routine and steadiness!). I am not turning my attention to a variety of tasks, a diversity of people and personalities. I am not reading and writing in analytical ways that cause all sorts of synapses to fire and connect. I am not expanding my knowledge on a regular basis, nor am I learning new vocabulary words, nor am I being forced to respond to people and situations in a moment's notice. I am not conversing with a bunch of different people, I am not reading arguments against arguments, I am not problem-solving, I am not engaging in the fullness of the intellectual life that my brain, that any brain, should be engaging in.

And so, I think my brain is getting lazy. I don't think I'm getting stupider, but I think I am getting lazier mentally. Certainly, I am ashamed at how lax my memory has become. It's one thing to forget what I've said to another; it's entirely embarrassing and guilt-inducing to forget what another has said, has entrusted to me.

Aside from becoming productively employed pronto -- which, unfortunately, is completely out of my control -- I don't know what else to do. Vitamin E? Fish oil? Daily crossword puzzles? A Word-of-the-Day calendar? Sudoku?