Heroes Not Zombies

Yesterday I wrote about how we have an imbalance between our left and right cerebral hemispheres. This domination of the left creates the kind of society we live in, and, in turn that society favours the dominant position of the left hemisphere.

It seems crucial that we get off the current track if we are to have better lives, better for ourselves, for others and for future generations. How do we do that? One way is to use our whole brain, to put the left hemisphere back into its natural role as the aid to the right….the servant, the “emissary”.

Mostly that requires a new insight and awareness, and for that I encourage you to read Iain McGilchrist’s books, or, watch some of his talks on YouTube. However, I think that in nature whatever we attend to, whatever we invest our attention and effort in, grows and develops. So I propose we do what we can to activate and use the right hemisphere as much as possible, in order to change the balance….something which has the potential to be transformational.

Spending time in natural surroundings, playing and listening to music, and reading and writing poetry are three daily “practices” which we can all do. That’s what I described in the previous post.

Today I’d like to mention two other behaviours we can practice to support and promote the right hemisphere.

Wonder. If you search my blog you’ll find a number of references to the French term “l’émerveillement du quotidien”. It means, roughly, the wonder of the everyday. It’s a great concept and has become a kind of guiding principle for me. I’m always alert to this potential….ready to be amazed, to be delighted, to be in awe of everyday experiences…whether that’s noticing the colours in the sky, as I saw in this photo above….or it’s in the appearance of flowers on my rose….or….well, the list is endless. Stimulating wonder activates the right hemisphere, and vice versa….the more you experience wonder, the more the universe presents you with more opportunities to wonder.

Empathy. Another major function of the right hemisphere is the important role it plays in empathy. Empathy takes imagination, we have to imagine what it would be like to have the experience of an other. Empathy requires genuine interest in the other, and a desire to be non-judgemental. The more you judge, the harder it is to be empathic, and the less you are empathic, the harder it is to understand the other, and to form a mutually beneficial bond with them – to integrate.

Both wonder and empathy grow with practice and both move us towards a more balanced approach to reality. We need this if we are to find a different path forwards, and, goodness, doesn’t this world need a different path forwards?