A few days ago I downloaded a talk from the TED website that has been replaying itself in my mind ever since.
TED is a non profit organisation dedicated to spreading “ideas worth sharing.” TED believes that through powerful ideas we can change our lives, and ultimately the world.
In this particular talk, brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor was relating her experience of suffering a massive stroke several years previously.
She watched as the practical, individualistic side of her brain shut down and she lost her ability to move, speak or be aware of her self as a separate person. At the same time the creative, holistic side of her brain opened up. She experienced the awe and beauty of merging into, becoming an indistinguishable part of, the life energy all around her.
As she drifted into unconsciousness, Jill faced the near certainty of her death. In her own words, she was struck with the realisation that she was no longer the choreographer of her own life.
How frightening it must be to lose our tenuous grip on life. Meeting our end with peace and dignity - as so many people do - must call on all our reserves of wisdom, faith and courage.
That moment in the video made me think. We have so much power over the direction our lives can take. Yet in the end we have none.
I suppose that thought could support a nihilistic view - that life is meaningless so whatever we do it doesn’t matter. For me though, it just reinforces the importance of making the very most of the time we do have.
Choreography literally means “dance writing”. I love that as a metaphor for a way to live our lives. Jill was a wise lady. Before the stroke, she was already dancing through her life - wholeheartedly engaged in work that she passionately believed in.
But sadly we don’t get up on our dancing toes enough. We too often sludge heavy-footed through the humdrum, literally marching to someone else’s tune. Maybe we work for a company whose purpose seems pointless to us. Or perhaps we have focused so much on our partner or children’s happiness that we have forgotten our own hopes and dreams.
You are important.
In the words of Henry Ford:
“Every new life is a new thing under the sun; there has never been anything just like it before, and never will be again”
What is your unique dance?
Share it with the world. No-one else can dance it quite like you.
Click here to view Jill’s incredible talk
Stroke of Insight,
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