Not long ago, I posted Jill Bolte Taylor's talk on TED.com about her stroke and her incredible experience from it. Very briefly, she experienced a hemorrhage in her left hemisphere dramatically impairing her left brain and its abilities. What she experienced is what she terms "the deep inner peace circuitry of the right brain". She realized that we can access this "space" and change who we are and how we relate to each other and to the world by choosing to access our right brains, and its innate capabilities.
What was immediately striking to me was how immensely powerful this talk is... but as I've watched it now... oh, about 25 times, (and still cry each time I see it) I've come to realize that as a former brain scientist from Harvard, she has the credentials and believability to assist in bringing about what may be the the next step in our evolution... converging science and spirituality. Here is her talk, please watch it... its truly wonderful and perhaps life transforming:
Why am I re posting this talk? For me, seeing this talk was something that I discovered alone and was a deeply personal experience. And then to discover that this experience has also touched many thousands, if not millions of other people was an astonishing and wonderful revelation. The New York Times did a story on her last Sunday that I discovered and was just blown away that this talk on TED has propelled her to a good degree of fame. The New York Times Story is here.
This was the second story the Times has written about Dr. Taylor. She was just named one of Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People of 2008... and it was from this talk! I just am so completely overjoyed about how a great talk like this can get noticed and recognized. I still am awe struck at the power of the web as well as the emerging influence of TED. It inspires me to be hopeful, keep writing and not to give in to pessimism.
If you want to connect directly with her... which I will certainly try to do... here is her website.
I feel as if this story is just the beginning of something really huge, and its one that I will watch very very closely.
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3 comments:
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 your comment. I think that the change comes from accumulation of a number of events that tip the balance of beliefs that we experience.
Jills talk, book and recent fame are a symbol of a society that is seeking a deeper connection but believes that only empirical evidence... or direct experience is real.
That's what makes her story so powerful and so transformative. Jill gives us all permission to validate our exceptional SUBJECTIVE experiences and touches us in a place that is in our hearts, not in our heads. She represents the savior we all yearn for in our souls... someone that can connect our belief in science with our faith in a greater reality.
And she does it so poignantly, so honestly and completely with apology that we can do nothing other than stop, listen, experience along with her and in the process.... become transformed and more open in our outlook.
I believe that nothing happens by accident... and Jill's experience is certainly part of a larger tapestry of knowledge that we are step by step being given a glimpse of that will forever change us.
Bruce--
THANK YOU-- this is THE WORD worth spreading. I am most jaw-droppingly inspired, moved, and... tearful.
Am I over-reacting?
Ever since I started my own "spiritual" search (for lack of a better term) I have become increasingly dismayed at the absurd separation of "science" and "religion"/"spirituality". As you know my affinity has been towards Buddhism, because of its focus on the mind and compassion. But even Buddhism can get trapped in dogmatic left-brained thinking, or at least my left brain tells me that...
To me this is inspiration for art. My songs tend to be about "the mind" (?), science fiction, spirituality ["News of the Hemispheres", "Mind Altar", "Metta Physics" (--"metta" is a Theravada buddhism term--I think)]. My left brain often belittles my right brain for spending so much time writing songs that most likely will never be "heard" by "others".
Thank you for your communication and constant reminders that I would benefit from checking out Dr. Taylor. And thank you for this blog.
-Jesse
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