I’m driving Jeb to school. He has a second-grade spelling test this morning. Though I doubt he’s all that nervous about it, he suddenly strikes up a conversation about fear and the human cerebrum.
He asks from the back seat, “Do you know what side of my brain gets scared?”
Ok. This is random. I’m curious. “No, what side?”
“The left. Do you know why?”
“No. Tell me.”
“Because fear wouldn’t come from the right side. It would only be on the left…Get it? Because right, is right.”
“Ahh, yeah. I get it. Ok.”
“So what side of your brain does fear come from, Mom?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’d have to take a minute to notice inside my brain and see.”
“I don’t have to look inside my brain, I already know. Fear’s on the left.”
Left. Right. Wrong.
Here’s to knowing what’s true and having the wisdom to choose, despite the firing synapses of our grey matter.
