Her Stroke of Insight: A Book Review and a Found Poem

"I must be willing to become what I am in order to become what I will be."--Albert Einstein (a favorite quote of Jill Bolte Taylor's)

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Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain anatomist who was performing research and teaching young professionals at Harvard Medical School in 1996 when she suffered a stroke, due to an undiagnosed congenital malformation that suddenly hemorrhaged in the left side of her brain. She was 37 years old. Her book,My Stroke of Insight, is the story of her stroke journey, told chronologically, and is a synthesis of her academic training, personal experience and insight.

In her compelling account, Jill tells the story of what attracted her to brain science, what it feels like to have a stroke, how she recovered with the help of her family and friends, especially her mother; what she learned about the brain, and also what helps and hinders the recovery of stroke patients. There are two appendices in the back of the book that are helpful for family members, giving recommendations for recovery.

She tells us in the introduction: “This book is about the beauty and resiliency of our human brain because of its innate ability to constantly adapt to change and recover function. Ultimately, it’s about my brain’s journey into my right hemisphere’s consciousness, where I became enveloped in a deep inner peace. I have resurrected the consciousness of my left hemisphere in order to help others achieve that same inner peace--without having to experience stroke! I hope you enjoy the journey.” Jill’s complete recovery took eight years, and this book is her gift to us of that journey.

I was awestruck by the spiritual beauty of her description of how it felt to undergo her stroke. Her words seemed to me to be pure poetry, and I felt they deserved to be put into poetic lines. About half of the  found poem is taken verbatim from her text, and the rest of the lines were excerpted from the information that she was supplying to accompany her narrative. They are completely her words; I have only rearranged them on the page.

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I remember that first day of the stroke

with terrific bitter-sweetness

In the absence of the normal functioning

of my left association area

my perception of my physical boundaries

was no longer limited

to where my skin

met air

I felt like a genie

liberated from its bottle

the energy of my spirit

seemed to flow

like a great whale

gliding through a sea

of silent euphoria

finer than the finest

of pleasures we can experience

as physical beings

this absence of physical boundary

was one of glorious bliss

as my consciousness dwelled

in a flow of sweet tranquility

it was obvious to me

that I would never be able

to squeeze the enormousness

of my spirit

back inside this tiny

cellular matrix

I existed in some remote space

that seemed to be far away

from my normal

information processing

and it was clear to me

that the “I”

whom I had grown up to be

had not survived

this neurological

catastrophe

I felt no obligation to

being her anymore

although I experienced

enormous grief

I concurrently felt

tremendous relief

on this special day

I learned the meaning

of simply being...

all I could perceive

was right here

right now

and it was beautiful!

I was no longer

isolated and alone

my soul was as big

as the universe

and frolicked with glee

in a boundless sea

I perceived myself

as perfect, whole

and beautiful

just the way I was

and somewhere

deep within me

there was a jubilant being

thrilled

that I had survived!

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From My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, by Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD, Viking Books, 2008.

For more found poetry, visit http://www.foundpoetry.gather.com