Lies

"You're either good at math or English. It's one or the other. You're either left or right brained, so you'll be analytical or artistic."

That's what they tell you, at least.

So when I was in elementary school and we discovered that math and science came quite easily to me, I accepted the "fact" that I would never excel in English.

In middle school I started to get better in English. I got A’s without tears, and almost enjoyed writing. I told myself, though, this is only because you work really hard at it; this is only because you have a good teacher.

Then, my writing kept getting better. I didn’t have to put any effort in anymore, and I was still getting good marks and constantly being patted on the back by teachers. I wouldn’t let myself take it any further though. You are a math person, I told myself, you’ll only ever be mediocre at English.

The crazy series of lies and wall building finally came to an end, though, a couple of years ago. I went through a bunch of testing, including a Psych Ed evaluation which told me that I was just as gifted at English as I was in math. Wait a minute. You’re telling me that I can write? Are you trying to say that I can excel at English and math?

That’s when my writing really took off. It turns out, I can write.

I’m not saying any of this to brag in the least (I’ve already said many times that my gifting has nothing to do with me and my efforts, so I can’t brag about it.) I’m bringing it up because I don’t want you to do the same.

If I hadn’t told myself for years not to try too hard at writing since it won’t go anywhere anyway, I can’t imagine where I’d be. I’m not wallowing in regret; I just want to learn from this mistake.

Don’t put yourself in a box. Let the evidence tell you what you’re good at, not society or bad science.

ps. A little side note, a whole bunch of the left vs. right brain stuff isn’t true. There’s some science to it, but it’s been blown WAY out of proportion by a lot of authors, so don’t worry about it too much. You can be a painter and a scientist if you want.