Chapter 2

The Human Condition

This chapter examines the unstated expectations people hold and the insidious problem of perfectionism. A case example as told by Erickson during one of his many seminars has been selected so that the reader can contrast his or her initial conclusions about Erickson's work with the book's analysis. The case report in this chapter will be elaborated on in further detail in Chapter 8. The narrative has been divided in this way to help illustrate the multidimensional nature of Erickson's work. It is important to recognize that there is not just one point to be gleaned from each case example. As intended by Erickson, each story is a metaphor designed to communicate timeless lessons that are difficult to bind up in an explicit construct or theory.

Case report: The man who cursed life

A man was brought to Erickson in a wheelchair, with arms and knees fixed to the chair. He was angry and cursed the fact that he had spent the last eleven years paralyzed by painful arthritis. He could move only his head and had some slight movement in one thumb. He was completely dependent on his wife, who dressed him, put him in his wheelchair every morning, then fed him, and put him to bed at night. All the while, he continued cursing about his unhappy life.

Erickson's statements were simple and to the point. He reproached the man for his lack of movement: "You have a thumb that will move and you better move it! You better exercise your _________, ________ thumb every day in order to pass the _________ time." [Blank spaces indicate use of expletives.]

The man responded to Erickson's medical advice by becoming defiant, wanting to prove to Erickson that he could, "wiggle the damn thumb all day and all night, and all week, and all month," and it would, "not do a damn bit of good!"