Christopher Nolan

At 22, Christopher Nolan was already hailed as a literary genius. With Britain's coveted Whitbread Prize for his autobiography, Under The Eye of The Clock, his work has been compared to that of James Joyce and WB Yeats. Yet it takes Christopher Nolan a quarter of an hour to write one word. Born with sever cerebral palsy, he spends much of his life strapped in a wheelchair, his face and limbs subject to uncontrollable spasms. He can't speak, but he can type. As a child he cried bitterly that he was not like other children until one day his mother said to him, "Listen here, you can see, you can hear, you can understand, and you're loved by me and your dad just as you are." Gradually he looked at his limbs and decided that he liked himself! What a decision! he began to shift his attention away from his limitations and focus on what was possible - what he could do with his life. He says,  

"My mind is like spin-dryer at full speed; millions of beautiful words cascade down into my lap. Images gunfire across my consciousness, and while trying to discipline them, I jump in awe at the soul-filled beauty of the mind's expanse."

Don't you wish you could write like that? Let go of the "if only's," the comparisons and the judgements. Listen to Paul's words; "Thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:14).

Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.