Mind has own energy. Nothing but pure consciousness. Have all the time there is. Have absolutely nothing else to do.
Now, 11 years later, Hall is the longest-living pontine-stroke victim. Recently, Psychology Today visited him in his Dallas home where he lives with Susy. Hall communicates through a computer. He can transmit letters by typing with an extension on one finger, or by focusing on particular letters that the computer picks up from his eyes. He has regained some movement in his head, takes in baby food instead of strictly liquids and counts to 50 in a hushed whisper.
In this confined state, Hall contemplates the meaning of happiness and what we can learn from a man without a body: “In some ways, my stroke was a blessing. It ended a destructive pattern of alcohol and sexual addiction that was spiraling out of control. Since my stroke, I've published books, articles, poems. I'm busier and happier than I have ever been.
“For both Susy and me, these years are golden. Since my stroke, I am more deeply embedded in life, less afraid of death, more focused, more open. Love is more important than accomplishment. It is better to discover, not `choose' goals. Honors are contextual. Nowadays, who wants to be a general in the Imperial Russian Army? `Evil' depends on the definition of `good.' Everything, including God, is evolving.
“The Buddhist concept of Anatman is correct: There is no enduring self-sufficient self. `I' is the name of a small figure in an immeasurable cosmic tapestry. Yet the moment I write this, I recall Basho's poem written on the death of his infant son: This dewdrop world. It is a dewdrop. And yet. And yet.”
Patton Howell, Ph.D., is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychological Specialties. James Hall, M.D. is a former psychiatrist and Jungian analyst.
Adapted from the book Locked in to Lifeby Patton Howell, Ph.D., and James Hall, M.D., with the permission of Tea Road Press.
