Living in Freedom Despite Captivity

It's our choice

When I first watched the Diving Bell and the Butterfly, it became an instant favorite.

Today, its lessons are a powerful source of contentment and hope.

The movie is based on a true story. The author of the book on which it is based—Jean-Dominique Bauby— died 12 days after he finished writing it. That is not meant to be a spoiler alert — it is only a reason for you to want to watch it even more.

Combining a biographical story peppered with magic realism, famous painter Julian Schnabel made an astounding accomplishment in his debut as film director. He successfully maneuvered to use the camera in the first person, allowing the viewer to see from the leading character’s perspective. Years before this film came out, I had learned in a film class in college that no one had been able to artfully achieve this.

The movie is in French so if reading subtitles for you is an issue, I urge you to go past that difficulty. It’s worth it.

The main character Jean-Dominique (Jean Do) is a handsome, successful, debonnaire, divorced man in the peak of his career as the editor of the French Elle magazine. He had it all.

While driving, he suffered a massive stroke that left him entirely paralyzed except for one of his eyelids. He woke up to a condition known as “locked-in syndrome” where the person remains fully conscious in an entirely paralyzed body. So much so that the person needs a respirator to breathe and must be fed through a tube.

Although it sounds depressing, I assure you that watching this movie is one of the best gifts you can give yourself today. Even if you are not a targeted individual.

The lessons it contains are timeless.

The beauty of the film, its masterful creation and, most importantly, the valuable insight that Jean Do teaches us throughout his journey is priceless.

Perhaps this movie resonated with me so much because my own father was, to a lesser degree, trapped within his own body. Yet he never let his physical disability interfere with his desire to enjoy life to the fullest. Instead, he ignored it and did not allow it to get on the way of what he set his mind t, setting for me a hard act to follow.

Freedom lies within us. It’s within our reach.

Being trapped in his paralyzed body, Jean Do discovered that you attain ultimate freedom through the power of your imagination. Strapped to that chair, he could transport himself and vividly recreate spectacularly pleasurable moments he had fully enjoyed. He could actually taste exquisite mussels in butter he had eaten at an memorable restaurant, and relive his night of passion with that girlfriend that was no more.

Jean Do’s seemingly imprisoned being within his body allowed him to discover true freedom through the power of imagination.

Jean Do gave testament before passing away about the importance of living life to the fullest, and the unlimited power of our minds that sets us free in the most dire of circumstances.

Talking to a dear TI this morning who has been to beaches and the coastal area of Piñones in my beloved Puerto Rico, I reminisced over the many times I had scrumptious alcapurrias paired with ice-cold beer “vestida de novia” (dressed as a bride), dancing to salsa in front of the ocean, relishing the ocean salitre caressing the face. For a few seconds, I relived the many times I had enjoyed the tastes, the scents, the temperature, the sounds and the passion that permeate that place.

I experienced a burst of bliss.

Like Jean Do, I yearn to experience once again the ocean back home I grew up loving, this time listening to Charles Trenet’s La Mer.

As a targeted individual, I cannot go back to Piñones until we shut down the highly illegal unacknowledged special access human experimentation/torture ‘Program’. The gangstalking and crime in mind-controlled, corrupt Puerto Rico is brutal, as people are willing to risk anything for very little money, including going against their very own.

Until then, I will continue to do as Jean Do, closing my eyes and reliving those amazing moments and experiences that I lived to the fullest, with the conviction that I will soon get to live them again. This time, though I will enjoy them even more, knowing that one is not to take anything for granted.

That is a freedom that the government criminals cannot take away from me.

I urge you today to give yourself the gift of envisioning what freedom will be like. Feel it, smell it, taste it, embrace it. It’s coming.

Do not forget to drop me a line here if you let Jean Do inspire you as much as he did me.