Jill Bolte Taylor Is An Amazing Woman

January 16th, 2009 · No Comments

I am fascinated with the brain. My masters thesis/research is brain-based stuff. Long story short–I’m hooked.

I shared a bit about Jill Bolte Taylor about a year ago on my other blog, but yesterday I started reading her book, My Stroke of Insight. After watching her speak (see below), I was sure I’d be let down by the book. I’m not. This is one of the best stories I’ve ever read.

If you haven’t seen this (or even if you have), you are going to love her TED talk. If you haven’t read her book, you will love it. I’m really selling it short by not giving more detail here, but just check out the Amazon reviews. It’s all pretty much been said.

The slant I’m taking here though, is not that of a stroke victim, or a caregiver, or a brain researcher. What fascinates me most is her approach to healing and learning (relearning). What she advocates sounds like sound advice for the rest of us “normal” non-disabled people as well.

Her commentary on empathy is teaching me how to be more empathetic. I love this book!

Her stroke of insight: Peace is only a thought away, and all we have to do to access it is silence the voice of our dominating left mind.

But the lessons I’m learning through her story are much much more than that. Much more about learning, and teaching, and emotion, and stress.

Got 20 minutes? Check this out. No really. Check this out: