A habit that I’ve recently implemented is to watch something good first thing in the morning before starting work. By “good” I mean motivational, inspirational, spiritual, educational, etc.
Today I started my search for good material at the TED talks page on YouTube. I soon found a video of a presentation by Dr Jill Bolte, neuroanatomist and author, titled “How it feels to have a stroke”. (The title certainly doesn’t do the video justice, as you’ll see if you watch it down below.)
Dr Bolte is a brain injury expert who just so happened to have a stroke one morning. Although tragic, it gave her a LOT of insight as to how our brains work, especially in terms of happiness, blissful happiness.
She wrote a great book about her experience called “My Stroke of Insight – a Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey.”
I read the book in 2010 and really, really enjoyed and benefitted from it, which is why I’m telling you about it now. ;)
Brief Overview
As a very brief overview, Dr Bolte’s stroke occurred in the left hemisphere of her brain. The damage was so extensive she lost an extensive portion of function in her left hemisphere. Yet the odd thing is…she experienced a peaceful happiness like never before!
She goes on to explain (pardon my oversimplification) how the left brain is our critic, and it’s the portion of the brain that creates our “I/me/my” identity.
Yet the right hemisphere, which was functioning perfectly during and after her stroke, produced feelings of peacefulness, contentment, and for lack of a better term – happiness. With her left brain offline and her right brain online, she felt as if she was a mass of peaceful energy not contained by her body. And she felt connected to the energy around her as if she were part of it.
Who Would Enjoy the Book?
I know my explanation will not come close to doing the book justice. So please don’t take my butchered, limited explanation to decide if you should read it or not.
If you’re someone (like me) who enjoys reading/watching things that provide information or insight into how you may be able to improve the quality of your life, then you’ll love the book. And for those (again like me) who simply enjoy learning and understanding how the human body & mind work, you’ll love My Stroke of Insight, too.
It’s not every day that you get to read about the first hand experiences of a neuroanatomist having a stroke!
Although I wouldn’t quite say the book changed my life, it sure did give me a LOT of insight as to how happy we can be if we can quiet the persistent left-brain chatter. I’ve begun to implement some of the wisdom gained from her book and with great success.
Rating My Stroke of Insight
I guess if I were to rate the book, I’d give it 4.5 / 5 stars.
Even if you don’t read the book, which is a fairly quick & easy read, at least watch her TED Talks presentation.
Peace, Love, & Happiness 
Dr Clay
Resources: here’s the book at Amazon. (As I went to find it on Amazon to give you the link, I noticed the book is rated 4.5 / 5 stars on there, as well…kinda funny/coincidental.
