Right brain/Left brain
For a while I’ve been concerned about issues of work/life balance. Sure, I’ve always been skeptical of jobs, but I also define “work” more broadly as anything I do to improve myself or the world. This includes my job, of course, but also my studies, discussions, physical fitness, etc. Even spiritual and artistic experiences done with the goal of personal development fall in to this category. Together, these things form an overwhelming portion of my activities, and make me wonder if there is a natural yin and yang to work and life that’s out of whack for me.
Sparked by [this video of Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist, describing her stroke](http://blog.gentry.io/2008/03/16/brain-scientist-has-stroke-takes-really-good-notes/), however, as well as discussion with friends, I’ve begun to think about it as a brain balance issue as well. If our left brains are the exclusive home of logical reasoning and conceptual thought–the tools used the most by what I consider “work”–then what am I giving my right brain to do? More than that, what would life be like with a fully-engaged right brain? It’s like I’m living with half of my brain tied behind my back.
It’s become popular to talk about right-brained activities as [the new way to succeed](http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.02/brain.html); that they might replace left-brained activities as the things that business and society value most. But let’s leave business and society out of this. Taylor says that when her left brain stopped contributing, she felt euphoria, and a greater connectedness to all of humanity. That seems like a worthwhile goal on its own. Besides, doing right-brained activities as part of a calculated plan to succeed seems like a distinctly left-brained thing to do.
So how can one experience and exercise their right brain, short of having a stroke or [damaging your left brain](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/262705_brain13.html)? There are plenty of [popular techniques](http://www.neurobics.com/exercise.html) to use your right brain, from [intentionally relying on other senses](http://www.neurobics.com/exercise.html) to [experiencing](http://atlanta.citysearch.com/profile/2997557/atlanta_ga/right_brain_art_gallery.html) or [creating](http://www.drawright.com/) [art](http://www.amazon.com/Illustrating-Nature-Right-Brain-Left-Brain-World/dp/0915965089). I’ve also included a few in my “[Ways to be more creative](http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg4w3gs7_10d8mnpk)” document.
Some of the things Taylor talks about experiencing, however, are also the goals of prayer, mindfulness and meditation training. Her feelings of connectedness and euphoria mirror the experiences cited by [Christian mystics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mysticism), Buddhist monks, and [British journalists](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0997c156-97aa-11db-a680-0000779e2340.html?nclick_check=1). More simply, setting aside time to rest and pause our endless march of progress can let us focus on the moment, and be receptive to the subtle nudges we’d otherwise miss. I recently practiced a weekend of silence with friends and was shocked by how the first several hours were just decompression from the daily burden of practical communication. Eventually I settled into a state of quiet contemplation that let me see the world in a much more receptive way. I’ve practiced times of contemplation regularly since then, and it continues to provide a unique perspective on life.
The temptation for me then becomes a wholesale switch to a fully contemplative lifestyle. Yet while there are certainly monks and mystics who dedicate themselves to a life of contemplation, I wonder if eventually the lack of left-brain stimulation would result in the same discontent that ignoring the right brain does. A friend mentioned to me that many monks do end up in a legalistic lifestyle because their meditative experiences so dominate their life that they are incapable of interacting with the rest of the world. Interestingly, autistic people [often lose their ability to communicate verbally because they experience overwhelming right-brain activities]( http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-03/ff_autism)–so I don’t think I’d want to take it that far.
We have two sides of a brain for a reason, and it seems useful to always engage both of them. For me, it’s time to untie my right brain and let it loose.