Memoir

Finished May 22
My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor
This memoir is of Taylor's stroke, how she recovered, and what she learned from it. First she gives us the background to her life before her stroke, and what led her to her career as a neuroanatomist. Then she gives us information on how the brain works, which is useful to see what her stroke affected and why she reacted the way she did. Following this we see what she went through when she had her stroke, her thoughts during this time and her actions. Her stroke was severe and affected her ability to get help for herself. This section was very interesting and informative. Following this are several chapters telling of her recovery, first her making herself strong enough for the surgery required and then her slow recovery beyond that. As she says, her life is different know and as she recovered she made choices to not recover some of the negative things in her life, not an easy task. She ends with finding the peace that is within all of us, something she learned from her experience and wants to share with others who haven't gone through the trauma, but can still access that peace if they try. All in all a very interesting book, offering something to think about.