TL;DR: This is the final installment of my series outlining the attributes of my Four Characters from Whole Brain Living by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. I invite you to go back to the Introduction and work your way through the previous posts if you have not already done so. Below, I spend time with my “Right-Brain Thinking” Character Four.
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Go here if you need Taylor’s description of each of the Four Characters: https://www.sloww.co/whole-brain-living/#whole-brain-living-four-characters
CHARACTER FOUR: “Mama Nova”
I’ve dubbed my Right-Brain Thinking (“Higher” Brain) Character Four, “Mama Nova.” This name felt nurturing, cosmic, and expansive, so I didn’t give the moniker a second thought.
Mama Nova is my most authentic, true self. She is, perhaps, what Zen Buddhists might point to as “my original face before my parents were born.”
She thinks in pictures and is non-verbal, as language is not housed in the right hemisphere. She is astutely aware of what IS. She exists only in the present moment and is focused on the holistic, big picture when engaging with Life. She is utterly compassionate, accepting, and she seeks similarities in the world around her. She is flexible, resilient, unabashedly vulnerable, and open to possibilities. In her unconscious fluidity, Mama Nova embraces the collective WE and cannot conceive of separation; she sees clearly that it is an illusion.
Mama Nova is, perhaps, my neural pathway to the realization of Source Energy or Universal Mind/Intelligence. She is “the portal through which the energy of the universe enters into and fuels every cell of my body” (per Taylor). She is a spiritual being having a physical experience in this human body-mind, and she shares a common consciousness with ALL. She is boundless, open, and infinitely available. She is the absolutely pure, unconditional, infinite Love that is “Life, the Universe, and Everything” (in the words of Douglas Adams). She. Is. Just. THIS.
With her unbreakable, ceaseless connection to the Infinite, Mama Nova is aware that we are safe regardless of our physical or Life circumstances. She radiates the feeling and sensation of deep peace and contentment. When she has flowed her way into my attention, I KNOW that I am perfect, whole, and indescribably beautiful. And as there is no separation between “you” and “me,” I KNOW that we are perfect, whole, and indescribably beautiful. This is without doubt or question. After all, doubts and questions belong to the Left Hemisphere characters...
Mama Nova is always invited into my meditation practice, but sometimes other characters overpower her subtly. Lately, the more I practice deliberate presence and complete the task in front of me with pointed concentration, Mama Nova is there. In fact, she is always there, whether I consciously sense her or not. 😉 When I direct my attention to the in and out of Life breathing me, she is there. When I take a walk through the busy local campground and immerse myself as the Whole of the buzzing, vibrant activity, she is there (smiling widely 😁). When I have felt the heat and pressure of the little body of my feverish, sick child sleeping atop me on the couch, Mama Nova delights in the sensation. She floats me a reminder that he and I have never been, nor could ever be, separate.
Most notably, Mama Nova glides into the lead when there is suffering. As she experiences no distinction between “you” and “me,” she is present when anyone’s suffering is occurring. Her open expansiveness and her deep peace and love create a safe nest in which emotions can arise without resistance. She welcomes ALL experience, offers tea to angels and demons alike (to her, they are not different), and unwaveringly holds space for who/whatever comes along. As I’ve come to know her more, I have discovered that she has silently interwoven peace throughout the entirety of my existence, just like a perfect, cozy sweater. I think I’ve been wearing this knitted peace forever. ❤️☺️
When my other characters are busy, in the middle of some perceived conflict, tantrumming, or ranting and raving, Mama Nova is silently, patiently present, overseeing it all. She nurtures and loves all of my Characters (and all of YOURS) without limit or end...
❓When does your Character Four take the lead in your life? Let me know in the comments below...
It has been lovely to explore this for myself, and it is a pleasure to share it with you. Being a human with an infathomably complex brain is the rarest of all gifts! How lucky are we that we get to experience human life?!