Stroke of Insight: Jill Bolte Taylor at TED.com
March 25th, 2008"How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I’ve gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career."
Jill Bolte Taylor was a 37-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist when a blood vessel exploded in her brain. One day, she woke up and realized she was having a massive stroke…
(Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 18:44.)
She spoke at TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design – three wide-ranging subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future.) Every year, 1300 of the world’s leading thinkers and doers gather together for four days of networking, education and exposure to new ideas. Past speakers and performers have included Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Paul Simon, Richard Branson, Frank Gehry, Philippe Starck, James Watson, Billy Graham, Jane Goodall, Al Gore, and Bono.
However, TED is about much more than famous names, Jill says. It is about passion, laughter, beauty, and ingenuity. It is about ideas capable of changing the world, and she was given 18 minutes to share her personal story and an idea that she believed was worth spreading. She says her experience at TED was both phenomenal and life transforming. Her story is a powerful one of recovery and awareness.
"So who are we? We are the life force power of the universe, with manual dexterity and two cognitive minds. And we have the power to choose, moment by moment, who and how we want to be in the world. Right here right now, I can step into the consciousness of my right hemisphere where we are — I am — the life force power of the universe, and the life force power of the 50 trillion beautiful molecular geniuses that make up my form. At one with all that is. Or I can choose to step into the consciousness of my left hemisphere. where I become a single individual, a solid, separate from the flow, separate from you. I am Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, intellectual, neuroanatomist. These are the "we" inside of me.
Which would you choose? Which do you choose? And when? I believe that the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world and the more peaceful our planet will be. And I thought that was an idea worth spreading."
May 16th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I’ve been recommending a book by Jill Bolte Taylor called “My Stroke of Insight” to everyone I know. It’s an amazing story, both uplifting and powerful on three levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual, but the spiritual aspect alone makes this the best book I’ve read all year.
How often do you get to hear a neuroscientist describe having a stroke, nearly dying and finding Nirvana, and then making a miraculous recovery so that she’s back to teaching medical students!?!
I came away with a renewed sense of understanding, wonder and hopefulness about the capabilities of the human brain. I give “My Stroke of Insight” highest marks!
You can get the book for just $16.47 with free shipping from Amazon!
Url: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
May 29th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
The New York Times Sunday Newspaper on May 25 had a great two page article on Jill Bolte Taylor and her book, “MY STROKE OF INSIGHT”. Her book is a must read and this NY Times article – called “A Superhighway to bliss” is worth checking out too.
May 30th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
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.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 am
MY STROKE OF INSIGHT was ranked #5 in all books sold on Amazon today and #1 in Memoirs above even Barbara Walters’ memoir. Babs had been promoting her book for months in advance and Dr. Taylor’s book was self-published.
Then Oprah recommended it. There’s the Power of Now, and then there’s the Power of Oprah!!
“My Stroke of Insight” is out in Hardcover now for less than the old paperback edition. Amazon has it for 40% off.