"When I tell people I'm a double major in neuroscience and English, they always pause and ask, 'So how does that work?' I realized the connection, the importance, of these two a few months ago. My best friend from home and I went on adventures often. We'd wake up at 4 am, when everyone is asleep but everything is awake. And we'd just let adventure take us wherever it pleased. This day we wandered into a forest. The moon faded into an eclipse, two stars bright, ablaze, luminous points in the sky. We traveled through the forest, reaching the point where the vibrant, palatial aura morphed into something darker, dingier. We encountered some wildlife that startled us both, so we turned back. Somehow, my friend slipped and twisted her ankle. She fell and immediately began crying. For some reason, my initial reaction was to carry her on my back while we headed back. I started to sing a song we both love. The lyrics are about your personal capacity to change your outlook on a situation. By the time I had finished singing the song, she had stopped crying. She stood, limped for a few steps, and then was fine for the rest of the day. It was a moment of healing. And that was life-changing for me. Some part of her mind, when focused, could transcend any physical pain, any external challenge she might face. It's like how hypnosis has been proven to be a more powerful anesthetic than any drug. Understanding and utilizing the mind can change the way you interact with the world.
"It's been said that out of everything in the universe, out of stars and plants and other organisms, the brain is the most complex. I want to incorporate this into my writing -- when characters feel unmotivated, useless, struggling with physical or emotional pain, I want to explore that mental capacity to change the situation. I want to focus on the brain's extraordinary power to overcome any situation. And that, I hope, will make my writing moving. I hope to change the world a little through that. Or maybe change the world a lot. As you can see, I'm a dreamer."