Latest / The Imperfect Impulse w/Bree O'Connor / Ep. 7: The Cube

Transcript

Ep. 7: The Cube · The Imperfect Impulse w/Bree O'Connor

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to The Imperfect Impulse with Brie O'Connor.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Brie O'Connor.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And today, I am having a bad focus day.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of all over the place.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I'm feeling unsettled in my body.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: The weather's got me a little twitchy.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: So does my to-do list.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I've kind of scrapped larger,
• 0:33
  more in-depth conversations today to regain my focus on
• 0:39
  something that's fun.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to want a piece of paper and a pen or a pencil.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you're really,
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: really into it,
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: feel free to get colored pencils or crayons,
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: whatever floats your boat.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: We are going to do...
• 0:59
  We're going to do a little game today that's touted as a
• 1:03
  personality test,
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: but please,
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: please take that with a grain of salt.
• 1:09
  This isn't so much a diagnostic tool as a different way for you
• 1:17
  to exercise a
• 1:19
  certain amount of self-assessment and self-awareness and
• 1:25
  hopefully have a little fun.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to tell you more than that.
• 1:31
  Some of you may have played this game before,
• 1:34
  in which case I hope you forgot.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: so that you can get something out of this exercise.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to jump right into it and not say any more.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Got your piece of paper?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Something to write with?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you don't have to be a great visual artist to do this.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: You just want to get a representation of whatever comes into your head.
• 2:03
  Think of this as just notes to remember the image that's in
• 2:08
  your head when I
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: mention these items.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to draw a picture today.
• 2:16
  The first thing you are going to imagine is somewhere on your page,
• 2:24
  there is a horizon.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine where that horizon is on your page.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Orient your page.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: The first instinct is the best one.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: What does a horizon mean to you?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Somewhere else on this page, there is a cube.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: First image that comes to your mind.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Don't get too fussy about it.
• 3:03
  Draw your best representation so you can remember what that
• 3:11
  cube looks like in your mind.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Somewhere on this picture, there is a ladder.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever a ladder means to you.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Once again, just look to create a note.
• 3:40
  You can be as detailed as you want to be,
• 3:43
  or as slapdash as you want to be.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Just go ahead, somewhere on this picture, there is a ladder.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: In another part of this picture,
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: or anywhere on this picture that makes sense to you,
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: is a horse.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Once again, don't get too tripped up on making this horse perfect.
• 4:18
  If you feel like pausing and drawing an exquisite horse,
• 4:23
  that's up to you.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Or just
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Have a deep picture of it in your mind,
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: this horse,
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: and how you want to represent this horse in your picture.
• 4:40
  I'm going to go ahead and repeat the items in this picture so
• 4:44
  that you have time to
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: continue drawing if that's necessary.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, so far we have a horizon, we have a cube,
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: We have a ladder and we have a horse.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, if you need to pause here to finish your picture, feel free.
• 5:15
  For those of you who are ready to move on,
• 5:17
  there are a couple of further items in this picture.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: The next item is somewhere in this picture.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: There are flowers.
• 5:36
  Try and represent to the best of your ability the first image
• 5:42
  that comes into your
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: mind for flowers.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: And place them where you feel it is appropriate on your picture.
• 5:59
  And the last thing we are going to draw today,
• 6:04
  somewhere in this picture,
• 6:07
  there is a storm.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: So go ahead, take that very first impulse.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of thing comes to mind when I say storm?
• 6:26
  do your best to represent that somewhere on your page okay so
• 6:38
  here is a point where
• 6:39
  I'm going to once again repeat the items just to give you time
• 6:44
  to continue your
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: drawing and you may be in black and white but if you
• 6:54
  have vivid colors or textures or anything,
• 6:58
  feel free to notate that somewhere on the picture.
• 7:02
  This is just for you to remember the images that came up in
• 7:07
  your head immediately
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: when I said,
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: there is a horizon,
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: there is a cube,
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: there is a ladder,
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: a horse, some flowers, and a storm.
• 7:36
  I'm going to ask you if you're not done representing your items
• 7:41
  that you take a
• 7:42
  pause here before continuing because you're going to want a
• 7:46
  full picture in order
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: to get to the second part.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, this is where I give my disclaimer.
• 7:54
  I'm not a big believer in personality tests,
• 7:57
  especially those that you can find on the internet.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: This one,
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: actually,
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: just to give you a little backstory,
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: the first time I took this little personality test was my mom.
• 8:13
  One afternoon,
• 8:14
  I don't know,
• 8:14
  she had just learned about this somewhere and she decided to
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: give me this test because I like to draw.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: I must have been like 12 or 13 at the time.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just a fun little thing,
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: to me,
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: we dabbled in horror scopes and things like that,
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: not with any seriousness,
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: but just as a way to say,
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: hey,
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: let's toy with the idea that there's something to be learned here.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: it's okay to keep a little bit of skepticism.
• 8:50
  For our purposes today,
• 8:53
  we're going to interpret this picture and what first came to
• 8:57
  your mind.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: But the interpretation is not hard and fast.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll get into more detail as we go down the line.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: You'll find this test is online.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's called the cube.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: And as far as I can tell, it has sort of a murky history.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard that it's a Japanese test.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard that it was a popular test in the 1920s.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know where it came from, and I don't know its validity.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: I do know.
• 9:30
  It's more in your personal interpretation than anything that's
• 9:37
  actually present in the picture.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of like reading tarot cards.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's the singer, not the song.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, let's go.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Here are the things that these are supposed to subconsciously represent.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: The horizon represents your view of your world.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: First off, how did you orient your page?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Did you orient it in a landscape view or in portrait view?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So is your world wide and open?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is it narrow?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Are there mountains?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a desert, an ocean?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: What did you think of when we said horizon?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Your horizon could also be city buildings.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: It could be anything.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And here's where interpretation becomes fun.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: How much is this horizon based on either your current view?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: living experience,
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: your current living environment,
• 10:53
  or based on sort of your childhood view or some other pertinent
• 10:59
  point in your life,
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: what does it most look like?
• 11:02
  Does it set you in a time and place that is familiar or is it
• 11:08
  completely different
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: than your daily experience?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Is it alien?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Could be anything.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: The cube is you.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Here's where we get into some fun interpretation.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of this is personal framing.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: So is your cube transparent?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Can you see through it to the inside walls?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Is it open on the top?
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a box?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Is it solid?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: What is it made of?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Where is it in the picture?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Is it smack dab in the center?
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Is it tucked away in a tiny corner?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Is it off to the side?
• 11:58
  Your placement of the cube inside your world gives you some
• 12:06
  insight into your
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: vantage point on your world.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: The ladder,
• 12:13
  now this is interesting because there are a lot of
• 12:15
  interpretations of the ladder
• 12:17
  and I'm going to give you both and you can decide which one it
• 12:21
  means to you.
• 12:23
  The main interpretations I see is that the ladder could
• 12:28
  represent your goals.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: So is the ladder near the cube?
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Is it somewhere else?
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: How far away from the cube is it?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a short ladder, a step ladder, an extension ladder?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of ladder is it?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Is it laying down on the ground?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Did you go logical when you heard about the ladder?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Is it next to the cube?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Is it leaning on something?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Is it floating in midair?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: The other interpretation is that the ladder could represent your family.
• 13:08
  Now these are wildly different interpretations based on where
• 13:14
  the ladder is in your picture,
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: what kind of ladder you drew,
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: and its proximity to your cube and the other items on your picture.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I think for you,
• 13:30
  I would recommend that you choose the one that feels most
• 13:34
  invigorating for you to interpret,
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: whether they are goals or family.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: The next item on the picture is the horse.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite images throughout time.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: The horse is supposed to represent your ideal partner.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I would be surprised if any of you drew the horse lying down.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows how to draw that?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Good lord.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: Is the horse rolling around in the dirt on its back?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Is it dead?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Is it galloping around?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is it rearing?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Is it calmly, you know, eating or staring off into the horizon?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Is it near the cube?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Is it near the ladder?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Is the ladder leaning on the horse?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: All kinds of possibilities that may have just popped up in your mind.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And now the flowers.
• 14:40
  Flowers also have some multiple interpretations that are
• 14:46
  closely related.
• 14:47
  In some,
• 14:50
  they suggest that flowers mean friends or family,
• 14:53
  friends and family.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: And in others, they suggest that flowers mean children.
• 15:01
  If you are 12 years old and these flowers mean children,
• 15:04
  I am a little concerned.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: But for most adults,
• 15:10
  I think you could sort of take this to mean the people closest
• 15:17
  to you in your life,
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: whether they are friends,
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: family,
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: or your children,
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: which I guess fits under family,
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: but more specific.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Where are these flowers?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Are they in a garden?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are they coming out of the cube?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Are they in the distance?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Are they on a mountaintop?
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Are they in a vase?
• 15:44
  There are so many different ways that you could have imagined
• 15:49
  these flowers.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Are they cut flowers?
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Are they growing big and tall?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Are they tiny ground cover?
• 15:58
  Sometimes we're just limited by,
• 16:00
  you know,
• 16:01
  the flowers we know how to draw.
• 16:05
  But even that,
• 16:06
  how close does it match the image that you had in your head?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: I gave this test to somebody once who had flowers falling from the sky.
• 16:16
  It was just raining flowers,
• 16:19
  which is kind of a neat image,
• 16:22
  but also really idiosyncratic.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: The final thing to interpret on this page is the storm.
• 16:32
  Now,
• 16:32
  the storm is a representation of stress,
• 16:38
  struggle,
• 16:39
  trouble in your life.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: First off, what kind of storm is it?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Is it an all-encompassing rainstorm?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Is there lightning?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a tornado?
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a windstorm?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a snowstorm?
• 17:03
  There are loads of different kinds of storms and I'm willing to
• 17:07
  bet that your
• 17:09
  representation of a storm has a lot to do with your own
• 17:14
  personal experience with storms.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Is the storm everywhere?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Is it off in the distance?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Is the storm directly over your cube?
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what does any of this mean?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: It means whatever you want it to mean.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we get into interpretation and reframing.
• 17:45
  Whatever you're looking at,
• 17:49
  what it means to me may mean something than what it means to you.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because you might see a transparent cube as empty.
• 18:04
  signifying nothing it might feel lonely or like it's a glass
• 18:11
  cube that you know
• 18:13
  with nothing filling it whereas someone else might look at that
• 18:19
  same transparent
• 18:23
  cube and think that is a person with whom what you see is what
• 18:29
  you get that is an
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: honest person that is
• 18:36
  someone who has nothing to hide the interpretation is also
• 18:42
  extremely personal and
• 18:45
  just to see like how accurate is it for what you see is did you
• 18:53
  laugh at any of the
• 18:55
  things when you found out what they what they represented as in
• 18:59
  like oh that tracks
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or did it all feel like ridiculous and this means nothing about me?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: And both are probably true.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because here is where we get to the really fun part today.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I'm really pushing the fun.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: But...
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: The human brain loves to make connections,
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: loves to create meaning and delights in reading into things.
• 19:39
  It's the same reason why they theorize that someone may have
• 19:44
  found a giant bone in
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: the desert and created this image for themselves of a dragon.
• 19:56
  We need to make sense of the world,
• 19:58
  and our brains are designed to create connections.
• 20:07
  I've done this exercise with several groups wherein I give them
• 20:14
  some vague prompts
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: and have them...
• 20:19
  create monologues and usually it's something like write a
• 20:26
  monologue about something
• 20:27
  that confused you about a moment that confused you and then
• 20:35
  what's really funny is
• 20:37
  that people will write about all kinds of disparate things that
• 20:42
  you know moments in
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: life that confused them and
• 20:48
  Put them together in a group and they will find a way to make
• 20:52
  those moments,
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: those monologues,
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: mean something in tandem.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: Even though they're all writing about really different things,
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: there's something that's uniting about the word confusion.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: That it begins, a story begins to emerge.
• 21:15
  So I can tell you,
• 21:18
  you know,
• 21:18
  a bunch of different random items and you could draw a picture.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then I can tell you those items represent something.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you will look for a way to make them make sense.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's what our interpretations are.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: Are they truth or are we looking for the truth we already know inside?
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think horoscopes are much the same way,
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: is that the stars may or may not contain,
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: all the mysteries of the universe,
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: but perhaps instead it is our pattern-seeking brain that has the answers.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: And we just need tools like these in order to...
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: inspire us to think about that.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: So these things,
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not opposed to using them,
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: but I need to like,
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: put a little asterisk on it.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: That the wisdom isn't in the test itself.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: The wisdom is present inside your own mind.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's inside you and your willingness to make connections between things.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: And actually, that is also where creativity lies.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: Creativity is in looking for patterns,
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: connections,
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: different ideas,
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: putting two things together that have never been put together before.
• 23:12
  and trying to make something new or find something true in that
• 23:19
  surprise juxtaposition.
• 23:22
  And you'll know you've found something true or discovered
• 23:26
  something true when you go,
• 23:28
  Oh!
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the moment we're actually looking for.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: The moment isn't inherent in a cube or a horizon or a ladder.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's in how you assign meaning to those things.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: And whether or not that meaning unveils anything new to your brain.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: I...
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed it.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: I needed something fun to focus on today.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I really do enjoy giving out this little personality test to others.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope you had fun doing it.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's it today for the imperfect impulse.
• 24:25
  I hope that you spend the rest of the day looking for
• 24:30
  meaningful connections.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk next week.