Beyond brain

Friends talk about their brains, relieved to learn the acclaimed organ accommodates change—even in older age. “My brain is turned upside down,” says a neighbor in response to shocking news. A coworker explains a mistake by saying her brain is tired.

Certainly brain is an essential ‘receiving and displaying’ organ and has a vital role to play in my life. But it is not the originator or architect of me. I need ideas beyond physiology and fact to understand why I am as I am — and do as I do.

Choosing to suppose Life springs from sources ‘deeper than day can know’* places the unfolding of my life beyond brain. I play on a vastly larger stage where more profound possibilities exist.

*Nietzsche