Orbulations Blog

Orbulations: Beginning the Journey

A week ago, I was feeling lost. I had normalized my state of 'overwhelm' for too long, until suddenly, a cry for help surfaced. The stark realization hit home: this book wasn't going to write itself. Since completing the rough draft, my writing schedule has been spotty—productive in bursts, but lacking consistency.

Setting up a GoFundMe page was initially designed as a challenge to myself. If I had the courage to go public with this intention, I would have to finish. And remarkably, that seems to be working.

I am completely stunned and thrilled by the immediate and wide-ranging support that has poured in! To everyone who has contributed financially, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your interest and belief mean so much that I struggle to find adequate words—which is precisely why this blog exists: to put words and images to this journey and document the progress.

The images in the collage were all developed using AI to visualize scenes I experienced during my coma. Through this blog, I'll provide context for these images and share the progression of my awakening, making sense of everything that happened as best as I can.

If you've contributed to the GoFundMe, you'll absolutely receive a signed copy of the book once it's published. Your names will appear as contributors in the book itself (unless you prefer to remain anonymous). Though this began as a supremely personal and solitary story, I've come to understand that nobody's story happens in a vacuum, and nothing meaningful materializes without support.

The Coma Experience

I want to be clear: we don't simply "go dark" during comas. While not everyone remembers, it's not that we can't. Medical literature suggests that between 10-30% of coma patients report memories or dreams of some kind when they regain consciousness.

I'm not claiming there was anything particularly unique or special about my journey. I've always been blessed (or perhaps cursed) with highly visual and persistent dream memories. As a film and video director and producer, my mind naturally works to construct story patterns from almost any data it encounters.

In this case, I would fall asleep and wake up again in the same persistent dream space—a place I came to know as "the Orb." My absolute belief was that, despite its oddities, this place was real. My actions there had consequences. The experience began in such mundane circumstances that it contributed to the convincing nature of my time there. The stakes felt real and serious.

The Return

Coming back to this world was a disorienting experience. The boundaries between the Orb and this reality blurred together to the point where, for several weeks, my grasp on objective reality was tenuous at best. Add to this the extensive physical and cognitive therapy that was (and still is) necessary for recovery.

But here we are, writing. Creating. Sharing this journey.

This blog will serve as both a chronicle of my recovery and a window into the world I experienced while in the coma—a world that felt as real to me as the chair I'm sitting in now. Through these posts, I hope to piece together the fragments of that experience into something coherent, something that might help others who find themselves in similar situations or those who care for them.

Moving Forward

The book project—capturing my time in the Orb—has become more than just a personal healing journey. It's evolved into something I feel compelled to share, something that might illuminate the hidden experiences of those who cannot speak from their hospital beds.

I invite you to follow along as I navigate this strange terrain between worlds, between consciousness and its absence, between the creative process and the healing one. Your support already suggests I'm not alone in believing this story deserves to be told. Thank you for being part of this journey. The road ahead is long, but for the first time in a while, I feel I have the map and companions to travel it.

Stay tuned for more glimpses into the Orb, reflections on the writing process, and updates on the book's progress.