Day 36: Left to Right

Read a memoir yesterday written by a neuroanatomist, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, who survived a major stroke at the age of 37. As a brain anatomist, she was in the incredible position of knowing exactly which parts of her brain were being affected by the stroke as it was happening.

The stroke happened in the left side of her brain, affecting her language, mathematics, speech and movement centres. But as her left brain deteriorated, her right brain took over. Her right brain experience was essentially a spiritual experience. While blood flooded the left side of her head, she was in a state that most Buddhists would call Nirvana.

It took her eight years to fully recover, and she did fully recover because she knew and understood the brain's incredible plasticity. But during her recovery process, she was able to pick and choose which left brain functions she wanted back and which she didn't.

The left brain is the "doing" brain. It is the centre of individuality and ego. The right is the "being" brain. It is the seat of connection and empathy. One part of Dr. Taylor's left brain that was damaged gave her awareness of where her body ends and the rest of the world begins. For several years, her body felt like a liquid instead of a solid – and she literally felt at one with everything else in the universe.

In a creative process, the opposing forces we grapple with the most tend to be the analytical/judgmental mind and a state of creative flow. Turns out, this is our left and right brains duking it out.

Yesterday, I got an inspired idea. My gut (right brain) said, "Graphic memoir!" I was inspired, excited, full of possibility. But, almost immediately the analysis/judgment (left brain) took over and I was on the Internet researching. As I compiled a list of famous and seminal graphic memoirs to take a look at, the voice of self-doubt (left brain 'storytelling' centre) crept in, telling me that only illustrators can make graphic novels, not writers. I ended up feeling pretty negative about the whole thing (left brain again) and losing my sense of the here and now (right brain).

Our society values the left brain way more highly than the right. A lot of the time, the underutilized right brain sits meekly by as the strong and powerful left brain bosses us around. Accessing the right brain and all its glorious gifts is a matter of stilling the chatter of the left brain. Being aware of which side is responsible for what really helps. So does realizing that negativity and judgment aren't character flaws, they are left brain characteristics that probably have something to do with keeping us safe from danger.

Here's another fact I love: the physiological experience of emotions like fear or anger are flushed out of your body in 90 seconds. After 90 seconds, it becomes your choice whether you continue to hook in to that negative emotion (left brain) or remain attentive to the present moment (right brain).

Spiritual texts always tell you that Nirvana, bliss and inner peace is always available to you. That has always seemed really abstract and esoteric. I get it now. Bliss really is all in your head. It's just a little to the right.