Thought Paper

            For my thought paper, I would like to connect two chapters that we read to create a more fluid sense of the topic for writing and healing. I really enjoyed the chapter on Pathographies and the way in which people come to terms with illnesses and would like to connect it to the chapter before it about the brain. I think the chapter on the brain by Alice Brand was very interesting, but it did not fully address the way in which the structure of the brain can also help a person to heal from their trauma. I think connecting this chapter with the pathographies will really help to make that understanding clear.

            While both of these chapters bring up the idea that logic is stronger than emotion, I would like my paper to focus on the opposite. Rather than simply looking at one side, like both of these chapters, I would like to find the balance between logic and emotion and produce a paper that shows the relationship that exists between the logical and emotional aspects of life. I believe that logic and emotion are intertwined with each other and we often make many decisions with both of these factors in mind, whether we know it or not.  Much like self vs. society, logic vs. emotion is very similar, where one side is greatly influenced by the other simply because more pressure exits around it. Decisions about the self are often impacted by the way society would view though decisions. I think logic and emotion act in a similar way. Logical decisions are also impacted by our emotions as vice versa.

I think both Brand and Hawkins’ chapters will be useful towards my argument, but I also want to use my personal experience with coming to terms with an illness as well as blogs created by my classmates. I think their insight will also help to make this distinction between logic and emotion as well as the way our brains help us to cope with trauma much clearer in my essay.

These two chapters are connected strongly by the fact that people are expected to find an outside source of help before turning back to themselves to find a way to heal. The blogs written by my classmates shows this as well, but many responses come from a place of health since they have already turned back towards themselves to discover what it is that they need to heal. Brand’s chapter on the brain shows that the brain is capable of helping us heal, while at the same time is often the reason behind a lot of people’s pain. In order to get better, Brand’s essay argues that we often try to find a cure somewhere else. The same can be said about Hawkins’s essay These people look to doctors to heal their illnesses, of course, but when that doesn’t work the healing process must occur within. The Pathographies come after the medical reports and the science that these patients research in order to find a cure for themselves. The real cure, the one of true healing comes from the pathographies, which allow each patient to come to terms with their illness and take their lives back.

I’d like to combine these ideas to show the way in which the brain influences our idea of ourselves as well as the world around us. I’d also like to look at the relationship between memories and healing, using Brand’s chapter on the brain to convey this. I think that by combining these two chapters, a much clear picture of writing and healing will be revealed, because we will have the science behind the brain as well as the emotion provided by the pathographies and patient stories.