[voice over] There is a portion of the cerebral cortex of your brain, folded deep within an area between the temporal and frontal lobes. It's called the insula, and it's where desire starts. The insula is only about the size of a pea,but what it triggers in our bodies and, by extension, in our lives,can be epic.
S15 E1With a Wonder and a Wild Desire
[voice over] We'd like to imagine that we're in control. But more often than not...the chemicals in our brains control us. The insula lights up,and we are compelled to change our lives. Compelled by longing. Compelled by yearning. Compelled by desire for more.
S15 E2Broken Together
[voice over] Just like we need food and water, humans need each other. A brain study revealed that, when placed in an MRI,a patient's reward center lit up when another person sat in the room. Neurons fire when we talk to someone, think about someone,and they go haywire when we hold someone's hand. Our brains and bodies are actually programmed to seek each other out and connect. So, then why do so many people prefer being alone?
[voice over] Why do we often run for the hills when we feel the slightest connection? Why do we feel compelled to fight what we're hard-wired to do? Maybe it's because when we find something or someone to hold onto,that feeling becomes like air...and we're terrified we're going to lose it. And trust me,you can get pretty good at the along thing. But most things are better when they're shared with someone else.
S15 E3Gut Feeling
[Voice Over] In the early days of medicine, surgical students would perfect their sewing technique on tree branches. Because looking at an exposed bone in an amputation, human instinct is to recoil, not cut. They needed students to get out of the habit of listening to instinct. A lot of our training is breaking instinct. Developing new habits. Don't react to bad news in front of patients. Don't show fear when faced with uncertainty. When you are looking at that exposed bone, CUT. So the trick is trying to stay human when we have shut down all those gut feelings, all those messy instincts. "
[Voice Over] So what about those times when there is no road map? Should we go with our gut then? If instinct is all we have, it's not always a bad thing. It can bring us wonderful places. Joyful places. And it can also serve an important purpose. Because our gut is usually what warns us when trouble lies ahead.
S15 E4Momma Knows Best
[Voice Over] When I was little I once asked my mother, how do you tell people such bad news? You tell them the truth, she said. But you tell them the best version of the truth you can come up with. My mother also never told me I had a little sister, so... grain of salt. "
[Voice Over] My mother said, tell the truth! Just tell the best version of the truth you can. Because the truth is going to come out some time. And the one thing you can't do with the truth, is hide from it. Because the truth is gonna come looking. Until it finds you. "
S15 E5Everyday Angel
[Voice Over] Everyday we're surrounded by people who ask how we're doing. But when surgeons ask how you're doing, we generally care about your answer. Your answer to "How are you doing?" Tells us how good of a job we're doing at taking care of you. Unfortunately, caretaking outside of medicine is usually more complicated. "
[Voice Over] Surgeons are trained to provide care for others. Some biologists believe it's human nature, the desire to help. Scientists believe we're biologically programmed to empathize. I think it's one of the reasons our species has lasted this long. We have an innate instinct to support each other. You can only take care of yourself for so long. Because lets face it, some problems are way too big to carry on our own. "
S15 E6Flowers Grow Out of My Grave
[Voice Over] The poet Octavio Paz once wrote, the Mexican is familiar with death. Jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it. I can relate. But in a hospital, death isn't celebrated. It's avoided at all costs. And when it comes, it's clinical, almost routine. But still with all that practice. Even surgeons are surprised by death. Especially when it happens to the ones we love. "
[Voice Over] Every religion, every country, every culture. Death means something to all of us. We all have different ideas about how to honour the dead. Different ideas on how to grieve. Different ways of moving on. Well, I may not be an expert, but I do have some experience with losing people I love. And I say, that right way to grieve. Is however the hell you want! "
S15 E7Anybody Have a Map
Webber (voice over): Scientists devour textbooks and data in an attempt to understand the world to gain confidence or clarity. Surgeons are the worst offenders. We study for decades and stare down the barrel of worst-case scenarios. We ignore sleep and friends and food and sex and actual real-life so that we're ready for anything, so we know what to expect and know there's nothing we can't handle.
Webber (voice over): The problem with all the how-to, step-by-step books is they don't take into account the exceptions to the rules. They never leave room for the outliers, the geniuses, the miracles because books are black and white, and everything in real life is a messy shade of gray. So nothing can truly prepare us for the beautiful, painful things we never imagined possible or the moments no one ever saw coming.
S15 E8Blowin' in the Wind
Meredith (voice over): Sometimes our body's signals get messed up and our failsafe goes haywire. Instead of making clots, our body destroys them. And the thing that's supposed to help us only hurts us. It means we start to bleed and everything shuts down.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Grey's Anatomy pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.