Sometimes a loss of words can be our key to happiness. Dr.
Jill Taylor talks about her stroke and how her hemorrhage caused her brain to
go completely silent. In her speech she talks about how she felt peacefulness,
and euphoria when her mind was silent. She lost her way to talk, think, and
just plain out function as a human being. She was in what she called “La La
Land” and couldn’t think of anything but how extraordinary everything really
was. She was at peace in that moment. She said, “I felt like a genie just liberated
from her bottle,” like she had just been released from everything stressful, or
harmful and was just let free. She used this comparison to show us how she felt,
like she was just let go in a world of silent beauty. She couldn’t speak or
think words but was overflowing with happiness in that moment. Just as Dr. Jill
Taylor, Robert Hass made up the silence of words into this little place of
happiness. In “Meditation at Lagunitas,” Hass says, “There are moments when the body is as
numinous as words, days that are the good flesh continuing,” telling
us about how amazing the body is and how being in the presence of your own body
is better than what you could put into words. He tells us how he enjoyed things
that were wordless and how he saw pure beauty in that silence. Overall, Taylor
and Hass are showing us how beautiful things can be without words and how life
doesn’t always revolve around thinking or talking. Life can be amazing when you
soak in its silence as beauty.
I agree that a loss of words can actually turn out for the better. Sometime all we need in life is a moment of happiness, a time where all of our troubles and worries are at a halt. Jill Bolte explains that one of her most peaceful moments in her life was when she had a stroke, for example she was in a panic mode where all of a sudden she would drift to the place she referred to as “la la land”, and while she was in that state of silence she says that all of her stress from work no longer existed. Most importantly Bolte felt free and one with everything. “There are moments when the body is as numinous as words”, by saying this Robert Hass also believes that there are time where you do not need language to have a moment of bliss.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that not really thinking or knowing thing can be peaceful. Dr. Jill Taylor had a stroke and although it was a horrible thing, she found beauty in what she didn’t know. She had no idea about any stress that she once had, she had no idea what her daily routine was but that was okay for her. She went into a state of mind where it was interesting going day by day learning how the components of who she was work. So not being able to think or speak might not always have an unhappy ending.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a moment of silence in the mind can be a good thing, like what happened to Dr. Jill Taylor in her stroke. Now what happened to her was not a good thing, but she did enjoy the moment of her mind going blank and as she said, going into "La La Land". I agree with your statement at the end of your post of
ReplyDeletesilence being beautiful. Taylor talked in her speech about her blank and silent mind and how she couldn't think, hear, or read properly. This ability was unhealthy and a a side effect from something bad, but she did feel at peace in all the commotion of what reality was doing, which is a good thing in the fact of silence being a beautiful thing in a moment like this.
I agree, not being able to think can help lose all of your stress. If your brain just shuts off and you you have no more worries you will begin to feel something you never felt before, true inner peace. Jill Taylor said, while have her unfortunate yet fortunate stroke, as a scientist's perspective because she was able to study her own brain, she found peace and felt like she found Nirvana and never wanted that feeling to go away. The feeling of her "la la land" gave her a rare experience which changed her perspective about how she views the world and also helped her gain more experience on how the brain works. Although it might be nice having total silence in your head but not being able to think all the time clearly gives you the lack of knowledge on how to speak or do any basic activity in your life. But overall I agree that Taylor did show us a whole new world and what it's like to be in total happiness.
ReplyDeleteI agree that having your brain go silent will give you a moment of bliss. Robert Hass talks about how “new thinking is about loss” and that “The idea ,for example, each particular erases the luminous clarity of a general idea,” Which I believe is talking about how your mind leaves your brain with a blank slate so you get that moment of silent bliss. And Dr.Jill Taylor talks about how her mind went into this la la land place with no worries. Taylor says “And imagine all of the relationships in the external world and any stressors related to any of those -- they were gone” having her brain go silent actually gave her a moment of bliss, euphoria, and peacefulness. The constant chatter in your brain can be distracting and I believe a moment of silence in your brain can give you a moment of stress free bliss.
ReplyDeleteDr. Jill definitely made a clear point across when she said that the silence is beautiful. The points that she made in her speech about how silence can convey so much seem true. During that period of time in 1996 when she had a brain vessel explode in the left half of her brain. She talks about how she observed over the lap of four hours in which that stroke took place how it was attacking her brain leaving her paralyzed to the point that left her without knowing who she was. She took this time and appreciated it for what it brought. On the other hand, Robert Hass enjoyed the loss of words and describes how something that seems to have such little meaning conveys so much. I agree with the point you make, life has so much to offer and we have it at our hands even in the most quiet moments people just need to look around and appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteIn the absence of language, I believe we feel a certain happiness. This “silence” makes people understand that there are many more ways to feel and think about something. In the recording, she says that she wants to say something but something else comes out. This is still somewhat a language. The seizure causes them to see the world differently. It makes everybody appreciate what they see and what they feel in life. These moments that occur only when we lose our language for just a little while, can change our life. Everything you see, everything you interpret will change in a meaningful way. Language is very important to everybody because it makes us feel comfortable in the world. Nobody will feel comfortable in a place that does not speak the same language or interpret the same language as them. Therefore, language will always be needed no matter how it is used.
ReplyDeleteI agree that silence is a wonderful and beautiful thing. Like language, silence is something we all have in common yet is completely unique for each individual. With silence there comes a sense of peace and tranquility unlike any other that I can never get enough of. Jill Bolte Taylor experienced this type of silent peace when she mentioned that while having a stoke she thought "But I'm still alive! I'm still alive, and I have found Nirvana. And if I have found Nirvana and I'm still alive, then everyone who is alive can find Nirvana.” She makes this sound like such a magnificent thing when she said “And I pictured a world filled with beautiful, peaceful, compassionate, loving people who knew that they could come to this space at any time,” after realizing that Nirvana is something everyone can find and benefit from. Although she had to go through a stroke to experience this, it really does seem like a great life changing experience.
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