Growing Your Brain — Anne Kearney Artist - Drawing Connections

The Opposite of Talking

The ping-pong conversational style of information sharing and anecdote exchange seems to dominate my conversations these days. And while there’s nothing particularly wrong with this, these conversations often leave me wanting more. Is our need to share drowning out our need to be understood and to understand others? Is our default conversational style making us inadvertently miss out on opportunities for deeper connection and growth? How can we literally reframe the conversation?

Growing Your BrainAnne R KearneySeptember 1, 20252025, The opposite of talkingComment

Swimming in Uncomfortable Waters

Uncertainty brings its own kind of mental pain. And the temptation to avoid it – even when it is part of learning and discovery – can be hard to resist. Whether we cling to familiar shores out of a sense of self-preservation, love, or entitlement, we often end up limiting our own opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth. How can we change our environments or our own mindsets to support us while we swim in deeper waters?

Cultivating Creativity, Growing Your BrainAnne R KearneyJuly 28, 20252025, Swimming in uncomfortable watersComment

Curiosity is a Superpower

People are designed to be curious just like greyhounds are designed to run. Both can probably still survive if those natural tendencies are caged, but they are unlikely to flourish. How does curiosity help us be our best selves? What can we do to free our curiosity if we find it has been caged through neglect, complacency, or an inhospitable environment?

Cultivating Creativity, Growing Your BrainAnne R KearneyJuly 16, 20252025, Curiosity is a superpowerComment

Boredom Is Your Brain’s Way of Saying, “Let’s Go Explore!”

Just like the pain of hunger is a signal to feed our bodies, the pain of boredom is a signal to feed our brains. Boredom cries out for mental engagement but it doesn’t tell us how or with what. The big businesses of the attention economy are more than happy to provide quick and easy short term boredom balms, but these rarely enrich us. How can we learn to listen to our boredom and reach for something that is more nourishing in the long run?

The Magic of Being On The Edge

The pleasurable state of mind between the known and the unknown, between familiarity and exploration, is where creativity flourishes and discoveries are made. How can you cultivate this state of mind and what can it do for you?

Cultivating Creativity, Growing Your BrainAnne R KearneyJune 6, 20252025, the Magic of Being on the EdgeComment

Jello, Cement, and Mindsets

Like Jello and cement, once our minds are set they are hard to change. This has certainly been true of my “paint scarcity” mindset in the studio. One alternative to trying to think ourselves into a new mindset is to look to the environment for help. This is just what I did when I set out to shift my paint scarcity mindset by creating a micro-environment of abundance.

Growing Your Brain, Cultivating CreativityAnne R KearneyMarch 12, 2025Jello Cement and Mindsets, 2025Comment

It's Not Me, It's Barcelona

Environment matters. It’s easier to get daily exercise in a city that is designed for walking than one that is designed for driving. It’s easier to eat a healthy diet if that is what’s on the menu. And it’s easier to learn a language in a city that immerses you. Unfortunately, that is not Barcelona. In my ongoing effort to tip to Spanish fluency, I find myself wondering if I can tweak my environment in order to offload some of the learning burden from my own waning willpower.

Growing Your BrainAnne R KearneyFebruary 24, 20252025, Its not me its barcelonaComment

What's Luck Got To Do With It?

I’m feeling grateful and pleased that my painting, Head On Again, recently won first place at the 2024 Cold Wax International Juried Exhibition. Grateful, pleased and … lucky. What does luck have to do with it?

The Fear of What Other People Think - Reframing Fear, Part 4

Is it really fear we feel when we worry about what other people think about us or our work? Reframing “fear” in this context as “vulnerability” helps identify a range of useful strategies for thriving in an uncertain social environment.

The Fear of Not Knowing What You're Doing - Reframing Fear, Part 3

Is it really fear we feel when we are in situations where we don’t know what we’re doing? Reframing “fear” in this context as “confusion” can help us identify a broad range of strategies for what to do when we feel out of our depth.

The Fear of The Blank Canvas - Reframing Fear, Part 2

Is it fear that artists and writers feel when facing the blank canvas or page? Reframing fear in this context as uncertainty about how to make a start or keep going can help us identify concrete ways to become unstuck.

Reframing Fear and Art (Part 1)

Sometimes what we label as fear is really uncertainty, confusion, or vulnerability. Read on to learn how reframing fear can lead to problem-solving solutions that are more useful than the vague encouragement to “be brave.”