A dear friend of mine passed along this video to me the other day. I have to say after watching it that it absolutely blew me away. I have been a friend of the Ted.com videos for a while. They are amazing speeches by the world’s greatest thinkers and doers.
This particular video is called “My Stroke of Insight”. It is about neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor’s experience few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story of recovery and awareness — of how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. I take these words right from her bio on the Ted site because they are so powerful. The video is even more iinspiring.
I have been fascinated by the study of consciousness and how the brain works for years. While I am no scientist, the possibilities for connection and being fully present and creative in one’s life do fall within my passion and profession as a coach. Taylor’s experience drives home an important message at the end for us all.
Sit back and treat yourself for 19 minutes. You’ll be glad you did.
We each carry around limiting beliefs and a suitcase of excuses that we use to get in our own way and stop us from living our wildest dreams. We say things like “be realistic”, “it can’t happen”, or “that would be impossible” and then we go back to living in our comfort zone severely limiting what is possible for us.
I am not someone who watches much television, but this week I was riveted to the screen to see Marlee Matlin make her debut on Dancing with the Stars. Think it is impossible for a profoundly deaf woman to compete in a slick ballroom dancing competition in front of millions of people? Think again my friend. This woman showed up with her personality larger than life, took the dance floor, and not only did OK, totally wowed the crowd and the judges. She was absolutely amazing and inspiring. I was on the edge of my couch late in the evening pumping my fists in the air and hooting and hollering. You would’ve thought I was deep in my March Madness mode not watching ballroom dancing.
It was one of the most courageous and life affirming moments I have watched. In one passionate, sexy, cha-cha she proved once again that there are no limits to what a deaf person can do.
It is not without irony that the same week that Marlee appears on Dancing with the Stars her character Jodi breaks up with Bette on The L Word. In a pivotal moment Bette says the following words to Jodi: “I love who you are, I love how you stand in the world. I love your talent, I love your passion, and I love your anger.”
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