THE GARDEN IN MY MIND

Versailles Formal Gardens, Versailles, France
Chicago Art Institute Flower Garden--Chicago, IL

Be mindful of your thoughts, for they become your actions.
Be mindful of your actions, for they become your character.
Be mindful of your character, for it becomes your soul.

“I view the garden in my mind as a sacred patch of cosmic real estate that the universe has entrusted me to tend over the years of my lifetime. As an independent agent, I and I alone, in conjunction with the molecular genius of my DNA and the environmental factors I am exposed to, will decorate this space within my cranium. Regardless of the garden I have inherited, once I consciously take over the responsibility of tending my mind, I choose to nurture those circuits that I want to grow, and consciously prune back those circuits I prefer to live without. Although it is easier for me to nip a weed when it is just a sprouting bud, with determination and perseverance, even the gnarliest of vines, when deprived of fuel, will eventually lose its strength and fall to the side.
Your body is the life force power of some fifty trillion molecular geniuses (The cells in our brain are the same, but over time their connections change based upon their/our experience). You and you alone choose moment by moment who and how you want to be in the world. I encourage you to pay attention to what is going on in your brain. Own your power and show up for your life. Beam bright!”
--Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., My Stroke of Insight, a brain scientist’s personal journey after a stroke