“Is the glass half empty, half full, or twice as large as it needs to be?” ~Author Unknown
Every now and then, we have those experiences that trigger a moment of amazing clarity. I call such a moment an “eclipse point” whereby all thought and emotion unites allowing a fleeting and unique look at life. An eclipse point might happen once or twice a year. Super rare.
The other day I saw a movie, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, that put everything into perspective. It’s the very true story of Jean-Dominque Bauby who was the former editor of Elle Magazine in France. In 1995, he had a stroke that caused “locked-in syndrome” whereupon Bauby was paralyzed head to toe except for his left eye which he could still move and blink. He retained all cognitive ability (meaning he had his wits) but was prisoner to the 1,000 pound iron suit that his body had become. Can you imagine?!
Bauby learned to communicate by working with a therapist who would read him the alphabet from A to Z. Upon hearing the letter he required to spell out a word, Bauby would blink his left eye. He went so far as to write a book using this painfully slow form of transcription. The movie is based upon this book with the very same title, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly,which details Bauby’s use of the imagination to set him free.
He referred to the bodily prison as “the diving bell” and the liberating imagination as “the butterfly.” Using just his left eye, he wrote the most gorgeous prose albeit in painstakingly slow fashion. It would often take 5 hours for him to “blink out” one paragraph. Following is a sample sentence from the book about how he’d spend his days locked in, “My diving bell becomes less oppressive, and my mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas’s court.You can visit the woman you love, slide down beside her and stroke her still-sleeping face. You can build castles in Spain, steal the Golden Fleece, discover Atlantis, realize your childhood dreams and adult ambitions.”
Bauby’s condition is rare yet so was the strength and tone of his imaginative fervor. In an otherwise bleak scenario, his dreamy mind granted him a last pearl of life.
I sat there with my brother watching this movie. We both have a little O.C.D. and a lot of A.D.D., and we were seriously considering an early sprint for the exit. The movie is not easy to watch. But there was something important to gain from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Bauby’s story made me forget my everyday worries and struggles; and it made me reevaluate the New Year’s resolutions. Yes I do have resolutions to be a better son; to not write dirty Schticks with naked pictures; and to be more altruistic. But this movie reminded me to put life into perspective and find appreciation for the most basic freedoms: to move; to breathe; to dream. Without those, nothing else matters.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year filled with lots of pleaures; especially the simple ones.
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