Finding Peace- Jill Bolte Taylor

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

             This was a very passionate and interesting TED video. Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain researcher describes her experience when she has a brain hemorrhage, which resulted in a massive stroke. She describes herself at that time feeling like, “an infant in a women’s body”. It took her eight years to fully recover.  During her stroke she lost control of basic functions such as movement, speech, and spatial and body awareness. She was being pulled in and out of consciousness between her left and right brain hemispheres.
              In her presentation she showed the audience a real human brain. She explains how the hemispheres of the brain are completely separate from each other and communicate through the corpus collosum. Just like we learned in chapter five of our textbook, she explains the functions of the right and left hemispheres. The two parts of the brain think and care differently and have almost different personalities. The right side deals with the present moment. It learns though pictures and movement. The left side houses the language center and deals with the past and the future. From our readings and this TED talk we have learned that the brain has specific spots that control various functions.
             Besides the two sides of the brain dealing with different functions, I now know that they deal with our relation to the world in different ways as well. Jill explains that the ride side of the brain has a sense of community and bonds. It brings us all together and relates us to one another. The left side separates us from our surroundings. It promotes individuality between one another. It was really interesting to hear her describe how she would flow between one sense to the other during her stroke.
             This talk was full of passion and energy. I really enjoyed hearing her story and how she describes studying her own brain from the inside out. I know I would never want to go through a stroke, but she does make the value of her experience apparent. Through her stroke, believing to be near death at one point, she was able to find peace. She felt a strong energy, loss of stress and all worries, and a sense of freedom. Jill was able to see the world and people in a beautiful, healthy, loving way. I think it is really important to see the good in people and in the world even in dark times, and she made me think a lot about that.

 

Posted