Bonjour, mes amis!  Those of you in the U.S., hope y’all had yourselves a fun Independence Day.

So here I was this morning in Cap Ferret (which, I now realize, is a kind of French version of the way I imagine the Hamptons would be). I’m back up on the blog, organizing my photos and getting ready to publish today’s post.  Then I noticed a new email in my inbox.

At first I almost deleted it.  I didn’t recognize the sender’s name or the names of other recipients, and the text preview showed only French.  Who would send me an email all in French?  But instead of erasing it, I opened it.  Still uncomprehending, I clicked the link.  Where was all this leading?

Watch the video (English with French subtitles), and you’ll hear the story of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and her own “Independence Day.”  From what tryant did she gain independence?  Her own mind.  Her “self.”  Her ego.  Thanks to a brain hemorrhage, the experience of which she describes in vivid and hilarious detail, this neuroscientist experienced what the Buddha called anatta — “no self.”  For one day, in her words, she “found nirvana.”

I remember shelving Dr. Taylor’s memoir when I worked at Harvard Book Store.  I never read it, though.  Never even thumbed through it.  Now I’m thankful to have had another chance to hear her story, which expresses, in essence, the aims of my own meditation practice, travels, blogging, and being.  Thanks, Dr. Taylor.  And to the French Email Angel, whoever you are, Merci Beaucoup. :)