What I learned from a TED talk about neuroscience
I have interest in neuroscience.
Not in a sense that I wanna be an actual scientist, it’s just I’m fascinated by the capacity of the human brain. To think that we are blessed with brains that can not only sense the reality, but can also imagine things that are not yet reality, visualize what could be, and create a plan to turn that imagination into reality. How we, humans, have the audacity to create something from scratch, to our benefits, to make our lives better.
I watched this TED talk about a scientist, who shared her experience with stroke, and how she felt and experienced reality when her brain couldn’t function as usual. It was rather fascinating and almost cringey to see how she told the story with high intensity. I guess I would be intense too, if I was sharing that kind of experience to an audience.
As usual, I continued the stimulation (that TED talk video) with a reflection.
I find this interesting.
Talking about brains, I’m blessed with one, which is capable of reflecting and expressing the process of reflection to writing.
Isn’t that wonderful?
Ok, before you think that I might be high cos I sound a bit nonsensical, let me tell you what I’m feeling right now. Aside from feeling blessed for having a brain physically and metaphorically (lol), I now have the time to actually pursue the projects I’m passionate about, including about learning how the human brain works. It has nothing to do with my academic and professional background, and probably has little use to how I would show up at work.
But man, it’s satisfying to be able to work on the projects you’re passionate about, at your own pace. You do it because you’re genuinely curious about the world, and you want to be able to solve problems. In this case, how I apply the knowledge could be as simple as being mindful of how I consume information, how I eat, how I sleep, and how important it is to stay away from smoking to maintain the health of my brain. It doesn’t have to be extraordinary, but it feeds you, it makes you happy.
Learning makes me happy.
2020 is definitely something else. I learned a lot this year — it’s almost like a cleansing ritual, a detox, a spiritual journey. I learned lessons that I wouldn’t be able to comprehend, had it been a year like 2019, where things were ‘normal’.
I guess ‘normal’ is also dependent on your agility, and most of the time, you refer ‘normal’ to something that happens regularly, something predictable that you can expect would happen in most scenarios.
I realized how over the years, the ‘normal’ life of a corporate job had shaped me to be a certain person. I was really transactional. I was obsessed in planning whatever possible, I wanted to control outcome, I wanted to be efficient — I wanted people to be efficient, I didn’t like surprises, I got frustrated with unidentified details, I got annoyed with small talks, I didn’t particularly enjoy networking. Now, I wouldn’t blame the corporate environment as the sole cause of this, I probably had the tendency to be that kind of person all along, even from my childhood.
But man, I was obsessed with the technicalities and intricacies of the job itself, rather than actually working with people. The corporate job used to feed my ego, my need of control, my need of security. I was lost.
If I look at my experience with a different point of view, I’m actually glad that I had that experience — I did what I did because that was how my brain then rationalized the decisions. I did what I knew best to perform in my role, then. It was far from perfect, but it indeed brings me to what I am now, it helps me to reflect on the present moment, and how I imagine things to become.
My therapist suggested to repeat this mantra daily,
What can I be, do, have, create, or generate today that would make me richer, more satisfied, and a life full of positivity and good relationships?
Let that sink in to your subconsciousness, and start to believe that you can unlearn your past beliefs, and create a new one that works for you now.
