Jill Bolte Taylor’s speech on how her stroke enables her to reach an epiphany is both humourous and insightful, and enables us to understand with further details on how our brain works, specifically the left and right hemispheres. As Jill Bolte’s stroke causes a brain haemorrhage in the left brain hemisphere of her brain, it has paralysed the left side of her brain while still allowing her right brain hemisphere to operate at full capacity.  And for that brief moment before her stroke paralyses her, Jill Bolte went through the experience of understanding the differences between the left and right hemispheres.

Studies from the field of neuroscience has already discovered that the left hemisphere of our brain is adept at logic, calculations and design while the right hemisphere is where the creative realms are, handling tasks such as language and literature. This is probably why left-handers are often considered more creative and right-handers are considered more organised (since left-handers use the right brain hemispheres while right-handers use the left brain hemispheres). It is therefore not surprising to find that creative individuals are usually not organised.

Jill Bolte’s insights further reinforce and add to these findings. She mentioned in her speech that the left hemisphere are the chatter (otherwise known as “internal dialogues / inner voices” by others) that happen in our heads, advising us to do things. I believe that it is also this chatter that creates a false sense of separation of us from the others as well the world at large and boost the ego within us (which is best for us to discard).

Jill Bolte mentioned that the right brain hemisphere – on the other hand- connects us to others in the world and the universe as well. There’s a remark that she made that is interesting too, which is the fact that she feels that her body blends in with the world when she is suffering from a stroke. This is in line with some literature which states that the world is made up of atoms. Nothing more. Nothing less. Every item and every single human being are made up of atoms and the world works as one entity. The Gaia Hypothesis (with earth as a living organism) seems to support this theory.  I find these findings of Jill Bolte to be exceptionally insightful.

Jill Bolte also mentioned that she felt a sense of peace when only her right brain hemisphere is operating. If we are able to utilise the right brain hemispheres and use it more often than the left brain hemisphere, our happiness quotient might just increase. The question is how do we do that?

As a side note, do take note of the speaker’s body language. I find Jill Bolte to be among the better speakers I have ever seen. Notice the pace at which she speaks. Take note of how she pauses before continuing at certain times for the effects of her words to affect her audiences. Take note of how she addresses her audience in terms of eye contact. 

I hope that Jill Bolte’s speech inspires you in the same way that it has inspired me.