Yes, as you may have guessed it, this is the title of a book. And no, unlike the other books that I have mentioned in the past, I haven't read it. Not yet.
But that does not matter. For the purpose of this post is not to tell you about the content of the book, or discuss its literary value. The purpose of this post is to tell you about the superhuman effort it took to write it.
Jean-Dominique Bauby was a journalist and the editor of the French magazine ELLE. At the age of 43, on December 8, 1995, he suffered a massive stroke. When he woke up after 20 days, the stroke had left him mute and had paralysed his entire body. He could just move his head a bit, grunt and blink his left eyelid.
This entire book was written by Bauby by blinking his left eyelid. While someone dictated the entire alphabet, Bauby blinked his eyelid to choose a letter. This process required nearly two minutes to complete one word.
The book was published in French on March 6, 1997. Two days later Bauby died of heart failure.
To me this book represents the superhuman mental strength all of us have within ourselves. Bauby just had one eyelid to work with, but we have been blessed with so much. If we can bring his effort and motivation in whatever it is that we do, just imagine what we will be able to achieve. We shall pluck out the stars from the sky and crumble the moon to dust. That strength is in all of us. Believe it.
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