November 2009: My Stroke of Insight (Taylor)

Post date: Jan 08, 2010 12:11:4 AM

A dozen of us (including one police officer) gathered in Susan and Mimi's lovely living room on November 18, 2009 to discuss My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor. Not everyone loved the book, which always makes for good conversation. Intensely driven to heal her brain, and share her journey, Taylor's story was inspiring and interesting -- and filled with good advice for those helping stroke survivors re-learn how to read, walk, etc. The book talks about the distinct difference between the left and right brain, which is hard to swallow because it certainly feels that our brain works together using information and processing on both sides

Patricia provided fascinating information about psychology and the brain to augment the information in the book, how it is possible to have some control over our dreams, the interactive cycle of the left brain filling in blanks and the right brain sensing and imagining.

One of the most interesting facts the book mentioned and Patricia reinforced, is that the feeling of anger lasts 90 seconds in the right brain, then is gone (the sensation) -- our response to that anger, directed by the left brain, is the part we can control.

Conversation transitioned to discussion of the new Oakland police chief, how the BART police officer might have grabbed his gun when he wanted his taser, how it feels to be tasered, and tied back into the brain discussion with points about the different perspective each person has on every experience.

As usual, class years ranged from the '40s to the '00s, every decade in between, and an SSW grad as well! Thanks to Susan and Ender (the puppy) for hosting.

If you missed our November discussion of My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, you can get a good idea about it watching her TED talk on YouTube and on Oprah; links available at http://www.mystrokeofinsight.com/