I owe this blog to a work friend of mine who lent me this really short but amazing book to read. It all started over a hallway conversation with me recommending a movie to her and she liking the movie so much, she decided to read the book as well. The book and the movie inspired by the book is called ‘The Diving bell and the butterfly”. I would recommend this book to anyone who is feeling down or wants to feel inspired by reading a good story and equally important, a very well written book.
I have watched the movie twice and almost back to back and I don’t usually watch (or read) more than once! The book is about this creative director (Jean Dominique Bauby) who one minute is leading a fast paced, exciting life full of exotic meals, dates, BMWs etc and almost the next minute finds he is paralyzed from head to toe with a rare occurrence of what’s called medically a ‘locked-in-syndrome’ (the encased body in a diving bell)..and has only his eyelids and his mind (the butterfly spirit) to keep him sane and alive. Even in that condition, he was able to produce this book and inspire all readers through it. I hope my small blog post will inspire you to either watch the movie or read the book. Here are some of my favorite lines from the book:
For pleasure, I have to turn to the memory of vivid tastes and smells, an inexhaustible reservoir of sensations. Once I was a master of recycling leftovers. Now I cultivate the art of simmering memories.
A rain shower diverted attention from me. At the very first drops, we witnessed the spontaneous generation of a forest of umbrellas.
Want to play ‘hangman’ my son asked me. I ached to tell him that I have enough on my plate playing quadriplegic.
A very black fly settles on my nose. I waggle my head to unseat him. He digs in. Olympic wrestling is child’s play compared to this.
I count the countries where my magazine is published. There are already twenty eight members in this United Nations of international glamour.
Does the cosmos contain keys for opening up my diving bell? A subway line with no terminus? A currency strong enough to buy my freedom back? We must keep looking. I’ll be off now.
enjoy!!!
#divingbellandthebutterfly, #bestmovieever, #frenchmagnifique, #Le scaphandre et le papillon, #joyofliving, #beautifulwriting
