Summary At just thirty seven years old, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor was at the prime of her life. A Harvard-trained neuroanatomist and a national spokesperson for mental illness, she was a well accomplished individual in the brain community. However, all of that seemed to slip away on the morning of December 10, 1996 when Jill experienced a stroke. Jill had woken up to a sharp pain behind her left eye and felt detached from her normal cognitive functions. Her verbal thoughts (or “brain chatter”) were also inconsistent and had periods of abnormal silence. Within four hours, she was unable to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Her limbs seemed numb, her speech consisted of grunts, letters looked like scribbles, and her mind
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We have to surround ourselves with people who believe in us and are encouraging to provide a positive environment to be around. With others’ support, we can feel empowered to accomplish our goals by breaking the journey into small steps. I found this method to be valuable because we are more motivated if we have small triumphs rather than one big accomplishment. Most importantly, we should focus on our strengths (abilities) rather than our weaknesses (disabilities) and defined our priorities to lead an effective …show more content…
Jill first gave a background explaining the parts of the brain, making it easier for the reader to understand the terminology and concepts of the different parts of the brain. Her use of diagrams were also useful in visualizing what function was being described and where it was located in the brain.
The author made her point well because she kept repeating information to the point where the concept was ingrained in the reader’s brain. The way Jill listed events in chronological order, day by day of her recovery, also made it easier to envision the steps of the road to recovery. She went into great detail about each step, and included how she felt at the time and how she made progress in regaining her lost functions. It was with Jill’s conversational anecdotes that helped her connect to the reader by making the reader feel as if they are there at the scene with her, going through the same events she
We have to surround ourselves with people who believe in us and are encouraging to provide a positive environment to be around. With others’ support, we can feel empowered to accomplish our goals by breaking the journey into small steps. I found this method to be valuable because we are more motivated if we have small triumphs rather than one big accomplishment. Most importantly, we should focus on our strengths (abilities) rather than our weaknesses (disabilities) and defined our priorities to lead an effective …show more content…
Jill first gave a background explaining the parts of the brain, making it easier for the reader to understand the terminology and concepts of the different parts of the brain. Her use of diagrams were also useful in visualizing what function was being described and where it was located in the brain.
The author made her point well because she kept repeating information to the point where the concept was ingrained in the reader’s brain. The way Jill listed events in chronological order, day by day of her recovery, also made it easier to envision the steps of the road to recovery. She went into great detail about each step, and included how she felt at the time and how she made progress in regaining her lost functions. It was with Jill’s conversational anecdotes that helped her connect to the reader by making the reader feel as if they are there at the scene with her, going through the same events she