My brother sent me this video with the subject line of "You gotta see this". Given the nostalgic & artistic nature of his outlook on life I thought it was going to be something that would make me smile or make me laugh at animals, old cartoons or a lunchbox that he remembered me having when I was 3 years old.
He was the only one of my family who did not go into health care. When I finally crossed the line he jokingly chastised me asking imploringly what he was supposed to do now at the dinner table when all of us were talking blood, poop and body parts from work while he was trying to eat. Imagine my surprise when the video he sent me was about a health care issue, complete with an actual human brain (fascinating!)
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness. She gained priceless insight into her own work and spoke about it in the TED series of talks about Ideas Worth Sharing. This video is 18 minutes long so sit back, it is an idea worth sharing.
And in the end, I did smile and laugh... but there was no lunch box.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229
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4 comments:
That was really interesting. I hope I never get to experience such insight.
I've been recommending "My Stroke of Insight" to everyone I know. It's the best book I've read all year! You can get Jill's book from Amazon for a good discount.
Here's the Link:
http://www.amazon.com/My-Stroke-Insight-Scientists-Personal/dp/0670020745/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210709205&sr=8-4
I read "My Stroke of Insight" in one sitting - I couldn't put it down. I laughed. I cried. It was a fantastic book (I heard it's a NYTimes Bestseller and I can see why!), but I also think it will be the start of a new, transformative Movement! No one wants to have a stroke as Jill Bolte Taylor did, but her experience can teach us all how to live better lives. Her TED.com speech was one of the most incredibly moving, stimulating, wonderful videos I've ever seen. Her Oprah Soul Series interviews were fascinating. They should make a movie of her life so everyone sees it. This is the Real Deal and gives me hope for humanity.
Thank you for that. Jill Bolte Taylor's My Stroke of Insight is one of the most incredible stories I've heard in a long time. Her TEDTalk video blew my mind wide open to new possibilities. On the one hand, there's what she went through and how she emerged from it. On the other hand, there's what she can teach all of us.
I saw the 4 part Oprah interview on Oprah dot com Soul Series and I did learn a lot from that, but I'd like to find our more of how to do what Dr. Taylor did, without having a stroke of course!
Thin how many of us are living too much in the head, and not the heart. And of course, you can't get more left brain than a Harvard Brain Scientist. Isn't it ironic that she should be the one to have the stroke and transform from the quintessential left brainer into this ""seen the light"" disciple of finding inner peace?
I hope this movement keeps going. Maybe there will be My Stroke of Insight classes where we can practice what Jill Bolte Taylor is preaching.
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