2018 年 7 月 11 日，我和妻子前往台北小巨蛋朝聖。對於席琳狄翁（Celine Dion）的台灣歌迷而言，那是一場不容錯過的盛會，機會難得。

演唱會前幾天，颱風一度攪局，幾乎讓演出無法成行。席琳在舞台上向全場致意時，還半開玩笑的數落了與台灣擦身而過的颱風。

她並不知道，真正的大風暴在後面。那是一場在這趟全球巡演之後才逐漸顯現、最終讓她無法正常行動的風暴：僵硬人症候群（Stiff Person Syndrome），正悄悄在她體內醞釀。

嚴格說來，席琳狄翁並不是我個人特別熱愛的歌手。我不能否認她的歌唱能力，也尊重她的藝術高度，只是她演唱時所散發的某種氣場，超出了我慣常能接收的頻率。或許，她真的太過強大。

我始終是從「歌曲」的角度接收這位歌后的賜予，在流行音樂史上留下典範，靠的不是神話，而是一首接著一首被歌迷記住的作品，我們都想見證她現場獻唱《To Love You More》的那一刻。

當媒體傳出她生病的消息，我曾向身旁的朋友提出一個我私下的看法，我稱之為「名人康復困境」。

在醫療視角裡，治療方案、藥物、路徑，看似樣樣齊備；但在真正的身體層次，卻往往無法被關注。

 

歌迷們都知道她病了，也知道她必須取消所有演出，也都清楚那是一種自體免疫疾病。於是，我們可以合理推論，在她身旁，必然圍繞著最高規格的醫療團隊，以及難以想像的醫療資源。

我相信，在醫療之外，一定也有人看見問題的另一個真相；也必然存在一些精準卻無法即刻派上用場的分析。

當我試圖理解席琳狄翁真正的發病背景時，內心對造物主所設下的遊戲規則生出更深的敬畏。

當一種難以理解的病症出現，幾乎所有人第一時間都會尋求醫療解答；而當醫療無法給出清楚說明，它便被歸類為「症候群」，因為無從解釋。

若你願意承認身體內建的自然法則，也願意用「身體的視角」來解讀疾病，並重新回溯席琳狄翁在全球爆紅後的生命路徑，你會發現：這是一個再典型不過的違逆法則案例。

在說明她的發病軌跡之前，先回顧一條常見卻被忽視的路徑：甲狀腺失衡。那往往不是單一器官的問題，而是一種「不會管理時間」的後遺症，也可以說，是長期匆忙所累積的結果。每天持續燃燒的腎上腺素，最終逼迫身體犧牲甲狀腺，以償還內分泌系統的巨大失衡。

三到五年的高壓生活，就足以讓多數人的身體開始承受不住，而對一位在五年內完成 717 場演出的超級藝人而言，那早已是超出人體極限的負荷。

 

2003 年至 2007 年，在經紀人兼丈夫的規劃下，席琳狄翁於拉斯維加斯展開原訂三年、最終延長至五年的高強度駐唱。唱二休一，在高度疲憊中不斷交付完美演出。

2008 年至 2009 年，她再次踏上全球巡演的舞台，兩年間完成 132 場演出。這段旅程沒有來到台北，我們只聽見她的成就與收入，卻看不見她累積的疲憊。

2011 年重返拉斯維加斯舞台之前，她努力進行第二胎的試管懷孕；同一時間，十多年來始終懸在心上的，是丈夫、也是經紀人的癌症病情。

我不需要再鋪陳她站上台北小巨蛋的背景，自 14 歲被發掘至此，橫跨數十年的演唱生涯，當她來到台北時，早已年過半百。身體承受不了，完全可以預見。

即使拉斯維加斯的駐唱已是駕輕就熟，她的責任感卻從未真正卸下。即使演唱時多巴胺不斷飆升，對人體而言，那從來就不是一種可長期維持的正常狀態。

全球巡演，對藝人來說是榮耀與機會；但失序的時差，往往是致命傷。席琳．狄翁同時承載了太多無法分身的壓力，而身體，終究必須在某個時刻，對長期失衡做出回應。

 

寫下這些，並非批評她的選擇。她的藝術成就與舞台貢獻，早已站上世界級巔峰；她為歌唱奉獻生命的態度，也早已成為典範。

但人終究是人，不是神。只要這艘名為「身體」的法船仍在航行，就必須接受自然法則的檢視與監控。

我想說的，是一種往往來不及逆轉的失衡。我習慣用「失控」來形容這種局面，在來得及與來不及之間，身體其實早已設下停損點。

當你持續一段時間感到疲勞，身體其實已經在說話：該放下忙碌了，該休息了。選擇硬撐，往往只是提前預告失控的到來。

每當看到、或聽到有人罹患奇怪的疾病，與其急著替病症命名、提出治療方案，不如先讓當事人看清眼前的停損點，停掉所有超出身體承受範圍的作息。

我所看見的，是人們一再忽視法則，尤其是對睡眠的輕視。繼續追索下去，你會發現，許多被視為理所當然的執著，其實從來不是身體的意見。。

 

（生活會把一些你無法掌控的事情強加在你身上，但你依然擁有選擇，決定自己要用什麼方式走過這一切。／席琳狄翁）-

 

A Reflection on Céline Dion’s Illness

On July 11, 2018, my wife and I attended a concert at the Taipei Arena.
For Taiwanese fans of Céline Dion, it was a rare pilgrimage—an unmissable event, with only a few opportunities to witness her live.

In the days leading up to the concert, a typhoon nearly disrupted the performance, coming close to forcing its cancellation. When Céline addressed the audience on stage, she half-jokingly mentioned the typhoon that had brushed past Taiwan.

What she did not know was that the real storm was still ahead.
It was a storm that would gradually reveal itself after this global tour—a storm that would eventually prevent her from moving normally. Stiff Person Syndrome was already quietly taking shape within her body.

Strictly speaking, Céline Dion has never been a singer I personally adored. I do not deny her extraordinary vocal ability, nor do I question her artistic stature. Yet there was always something in the aura of her performance that exceeded the frequency I am accustomed to receiving. Perhaps she truly is too powerful.

I have always approached her work through her songs. In popular music history, legends are not built on myth, but on one memorable song after another. Like so many others, I wanted to witness the moment she sang To Love You More live.

When the media later reported her illness, I shared a private observation with friends—what I call the “celebrity recovery dilemma.”
From a medical perspective, treatment plans, medications, and therapeutic pathways all seem to be in place. Yet at the level of the body itself, what truly matters is often overlooked.

Fans around the world knew she was ill. They knew she had to cancel all performances, and they understood that her condition was an autoimmune disease. It is reasonable to assume that she was surrounded by top-tier medical teams and unimaginable medical resources.

I believe that beyond medicine, there are those who see another layer of truth—and that there are analyses both precise and insightful, even if they cannot offer immediate solutions.

As I tried to understand the deeper background of Céline Dion’s illness, I found myself filled with greater reverence for the rules of the game set by the Creator.

When an illness defies easy understanding, most people instinctively turn to medical explanations. And when medicine cannot provide a clear answer, the condition is labeled a “syndrome”—a name that acknowledges our inability to explain it.

If one is willing to accept the natural laws built into the body, and to interpret illness from a body-centered perspective, then retracing Céline Dion’s life path after her global rise reveals something unmistakable: this is a classic case of living in defiance of natural law.

Before tracing the course of her illness, it is worth revisiting a common yet often ignored pattern—thyroid imbalance. This is rarely the problem of a single organ. Rather, it is the aftermath of an inability to manage time, the cumulative result of prolonged urgency and haste. When adrenaline burns continuously day after day, the body is eventually forced to sacrifice the thyroid in order to compensate for profound endocrine imbalance.

Three to five years of high-pressure living is enough to overwhelm most bodies. For a superstar who completed 717 performances within five years, this burden far exceeded the limits of human physiology.

From 2003 to 2007, under the planning of her husband and manager, Céline Dion embarked on a Las Vegas residency originally scheduled for three years and ultimately extended to five. Performing two days on and one day off, she delivered flawless performances while living in a state of sustained exhaustion.

From 2008 to 2009, she returned to the global touring stage, completing 132 performances in two years. This tour did not include Taipei. We heard about her achievements and income, but we did not see the fatigue accumulating beneath them.

Before returning to the Las Vegas stage in 2011, she underwent IVF treatments in an effort to conceive her second child. At the same time, another burden had weighed on her for more than a decade—the cancer diagnosis of her husband, who was also her manager.

There is no need to further elaborate on her return to Taipei Arena. Discovered at the age of fourteen, she had already lived decades on stage by the time she returned to Taipei—well past fifty. That her body could no longer bear the load was entirely foreseeable.

Even though her Las Vegas residency had become second nature, her sense of responsibility never truly loosened its grip. And while dopamine surged during performances, such a state is never meant to be sustained by the human body over long periods.

Global touring brings honor and opportunity to artists, but chronic jet lag is often their silent killer. Céline Dion carried far more pressure than any one person could divide or escape. In time, the body must respond to prolonged disorder.

These reflections are not meant to criticize her choices. Her artistic achievements and contributions to the stage have long stood at the pinnacle of global culture. Her devotion to singing is itself a model for generations.

But a human being is still human—not a god.
As long as the vessel called the body remains in motion, it must submit to the scrutiny and governance of natural law.

What I wish to speak about is a kind of imbalance that often becomes irreversible. I tend to describe it as loss of control. Between what is still salvageable and what is already too late, the body has, in fact, already drawn its stop-loss line.

When fatigue persists over time, the body is already speaking: it is time to let go of busyness; it is time to rest. To keep forcing oneself forward is often nothing more than an early announcement of collapse.

Whenever we encounter—or hear of—someone suffering from a rare or strange illness, instead of rushing to name the disease and propose treatment plans, it may be more important to help the person recognize the stop-loss point before them: to stop all routines that exceed what the body can bear.

What I continue to see is humanity’s repeated disregard for natural law—especially our neglect of sleep. Follow this thread further, and you will discover that many of the attachments we take for granted were never the body’s choice to begin with.