“Knowledge garden” is a metaphor for a dynamic and living system of information, ideas, and inspiration that interact, cross-fertilize, feed and grow on each other.
A small story before I start this article. As I started planning this article, I asked Shilpi Mayank Awasthi, Founder of SpecialSaathi, whether one of the CreativeSaathis could do a creative representation of the second brain. Within a few hours, I had two creative representations! I started wondering how to best use these two representations by Dhrov Tikoo and Morpheus Nag. As I started writing the article, an idea came to me. I would use the two artworks to convey two different but related concepts. Dhrov Tikoo’s representation for conveying the idea of a knowledge garden and Morpheus Nag’s representation for the conveying the idea of a second brain.
I will be hosting our first webinar on the second brain concept and tools on January 9th, 2023. Please join our Facebook group here for information on this virtual meetup and other discussions on the second brain.
In the few months that I have been associated with SpecialSaathi, I am impressed with the way a knowledge garden has started evolving through the efforts of Shilpi Mayank Awasthi, Founder of SpecialSaathi. The SpecialSaathi structure of ParentSaathi, CreativeSaathi, BloggerSaathi, SoochnaSaathi and other initiatives paves the way for the development of a well-organized knowledge garden for the parent and professional community. There is a wealth of information on SpecialSaaathi. More importantly, this information is organized and curated to facilitate retrieval and use.
Second Brain
Building a second brain is a systematic method for saving and retrieving ideas, inspirations, insights, and connections we’ve gained through our experience. The second brain is an external repository (notebooks and digital repository) for the things that we learn and the resources from which we learn.
The way that I will use the terms second brain and knowledge garden is as follows:
*Second brain refers to individual efforts to compile and curate their learning and resources.
*Knowledge garden is a community resource.
Individual efforts to harvest and organize their learning supports the development of a community knowledge garden. In turn, a community knowledge garden provides learning resources for individuals to harvest and include in their second brain!
Example 1: Rama’s SpecialSaathi Blog Posts and LIFESMART Webinars
I have started building a second brain that compiles selected blog posts that I wrote last year as well as links to our LIFESMART ParentSaathi webinars. While blog posts can be accessed from the SpecialSaathi website, my collection is a curated one. I have selected the posts that I want to talk about more in 2023. I have omitted some (e.g., on 100-day projects) because I will be writing newer versions of these articles in 2023 based on what we have been learning. This collection is built in Wakelet. I quickly embedded it in this post. Scan the posts in this Wakelet and read what interests you. Add it to your second brain!
Ananth’s 100-Days of Smile Brightly and Dance Project
Ananth is building a second brain for his Smile Brightly and Dance project. It is an organized resource that we use for our practice. As he does lessons with his teacher, Shri Ujwal Jagadeesh, we add resources to this second brain. The clearly organized individual second brain is also being shared as a resource for the community. There are many short videos of lesssons that parents can use to implement their own 100-Days of Smile Brightly and Dance project!
Benefits of Second Brain
- The repository below is a detailed and organized record of our learning during the 100-Day project.
- Resources can be accessed easily for review and practice.
- Teachers can see learner’s activities and progress.
- Resources can be curated and shared with the community in an organized manner.
- The community has access to resources in one place rather than resources being scattered in posts in groups.
Build your second brain in 2023 and continue contributing to the SpecialSaathi and LIFESMART knowledge gardens! Together, let us build a better future for our children!
Author Dasaratha Rama