I watched a thought provoking
movie tonight. It is the story of Jean-Dominique Bauby a former editor of the French magazine Elle. He was left with
locked-in syndrome after waking from a 3 week coma that was a result of a stroke. Completely paralyzed except for one eye, he dictated his book,
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by blinking his left eye to choose each letter as the alphabet was read to him. As is usual after watching a
movie that has been based on a book, I now am compelled to read the book in order to apprehend the complete picture...to know his thoughts....to try to understand his intrepid spirit in the face of such a debilitating life event.
The human spirit can be so resilient. People can be subjected to the most crippling circumstances and not only survive, but thrive. I am intensely interested in these people.
How about you? Are you interesting in these types of stories or do they depress you? I find that I am inspired, but not so sure that I would be able to endure with their resolve and determination and even vitality.
Click
here to see the movie trailer.
Thought provoking post. I love inspirational stories. It's amazing what some people endure, and come through it okay. There are so many calamities that can befall a person and devastate their life and their spirit. People lose limbs, homes, countries, loved ones, health, fortunes, etc etc.
ReplyDeleteSome are broken by it; and really, who can blame them. But some of them, they refuse to be defeated, or they have a support system around them that is so encouraging, so loyal, that they are able to try and do things that no one would have thought possible...like write a book by blinking an eye.
I particularly admire those foot and mouth artists. I used to order their greeting cards; each card had a beautiful painting on it; all were done by the brush held either in the artists foot or mouth. Finely detailed, lovely drawings and painting....I have ten working fingers and could never hope to draw anything even half so lovely.
I almost picked this movie up the other day! Thanks for posting on it!
ReplyDeleteThese stories of great human spirit inspire me. It is amazing the hardships people can overcome in becoming truly great heros.
It always cues things in my life into focus. It puts the little things into true perpective, when I see the huge hurdles some people have delt with and overcome. Makes my so called troubles seem silly in comparison.
Another for my Netflix list. Thanks, Stevie! Have a great weekend!
I'd say this movie would depress me. I like against the odds sports movies but someone paralyzed is so much harder. They and their loved one are truly the heroes.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds really interesting. Did he write a book about himself. Or did he just write a book. I could not imagine something like that happening . It really makes me realize how blessed I am!
ReplyDeleteI loved "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", but the movie I'd rather see is "My Stroke of Insight", which is the amazing bestselling book by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor. It is an incredible story and there's a happy ending. She was a 37 year old Harvard brain scientist who had a stroke in the left half of her brain. The story is about how she fully recovered, what she learned and experienced, and it teaches a lot about how to live a better life. Her TEDTalk at TED dot com is fantastic too. It's been spread online millions of times and you'll see why!
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