Why I Love The Brain
Life altering brain facts favourites that'll change our lives forever.
Ever since I read “The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How It’s Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live—and How You Can Change Them” by Richard J. Davidson and Sharon Begley— I’ve had a blossoming obsession with the brain— that glorious soft, squishy, pink thing sitting in our skulls. It’s a scientific marvel.
Though we have teams of scientists and medical researchers dedicated to understanding the brain, much of it, especially in explaining how consciousness happens and how a mind exists is still a debated mystery to experts.
There’s still plenty to learn, even with the billions of dollars and generations spent into its research. As an amateur brain enthusiast, there’s nothing more satisfying than to gain a new level of understanding about the brain.
It’s complexities are evident, but with deeper understanding, it’s potential becomes genuinely eye-opening.
To say this obsession has transformed my life would be an understatement. I owe much of who I am today—the changes I’ve undergone, and what I’ve accomplished in myself—to that spark ignited by reading that first book.
The brain is an all-consuming passion, never failing to invite deeper investigation. The more I learn, the more I stand in awe of its potential.
But what truly captivates me is the quest for mastery. To command absolute control over my brain and its health is the ideal and discipline I find most compelling.
From the glimpses I’ve experienced, mastering our brains can utterly transform our lives beyond our wildest dreams.
Some of my favourite brain facts:
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt to its environment and exposures over a lifetime. The brain is never static, it’s always rewiring. Everything it is exposed to will rewire it. The greater the exposure, the greater the change.
Standing in front of a crowd used to make me anxious. My body would react with cold sweats, tremors, and tingling nerves—classic symptoms of the reptilian brain's fight-or-flight response, triggering my sympathetic nervous system to go on high alert.
But through regular exposure, I’ve reconditioned my brain to stay calm in such situations. Now, when I stand before a crowd, the cold sweats, tremors, and overwhelming nervousness (for the most part) has gone. I’ve retrained my brain to recognise that standing in front of a crowd is not a life-threatening situation.
