Michelle Williams was very insecure about her body when she was so pregnant, so Heath Ledger would often put padding under his shirt to appear pregnant as well in hopes of making his wife feel better. This photo was taken the first time Heath did this.
You were on your way home when you died.
It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.
And that’s when you met me.
“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”
“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.
“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”
“Yup,” I said.
“I… I died?”
“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.
You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”
“More or less,” I said.
“Are you god?” You asked.
“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”
“My kids… my wife,” you said.
“What about them?”
“Will they be all right?”
“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”
You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”
“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”
“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”
“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”
“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”
You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”
“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”
“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”
“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”
I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.
“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”
“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”
“Oh lots. Lots and lots. And in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”
“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”
“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”
“Where you come from?” You said.
“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”
“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”
“So what’s the point of it all?”
“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”
“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.
I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”
“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”
“Just me? What about everyone else?”
“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”
You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”
“All you. Different incarnations of you.”
“Wait. I’m everyone!?”
“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.
“I’m every human being who ever lived?”
“Or who will ever live, yes.”
“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”
“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.
“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.
“And you’re the millions he killed.”
“I’m Jesus?”
“And you’re everyone who followed him.”
You fell silent.
“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”
You thought for a long time.
“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”
“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”
“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”
“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”
“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”
“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”
And I sent you on your way.
I would read an entire novel about this.
WOAH.
1. Never apologize for acting on your instincts.
Listening to your body then taking action on what you hear
is the hallmark of heroic people.2. Never apologize for all the tears you’ve cried.
Crying cleanses the soul. Shoot for once a month.
Even if it’s just a brief mist at a tender moment in a sad movie.3. Never apologize for anything in your resume/portfolio.
If you feel the need to do so, it probably doesn’t belong
in there in the first place.4. Never apologize for asking for what you need.
The answer to every question you DON’T ask is always no.5. Never apologize for asking questions.
When you stop asking questions,
you don’t just run out of answers you run out of hope.6. Never apologize for asserting yourself.
The word assert comes from the Latin asserere, which means,
to claim, maintain or affirm. And that’s exactly what you’re entitled to: Your opinion. Your belief. Your say.
Let nobody take it away from you.7. Never apologize for being a health nut.
Next time someone says, What are you, on a diet or something?
look them straight in the eye and say,
Yeah you got a problem with that?
Then, when they back down, you go right back to eating your tofu.8. Never apologize for being a newbie.
Every great chess master was once a beginner.9. Never apologize for being early for an appointment.
In the history of Corporate America, no employee has ever been
fired for consistently arriving ten minutes early to every meeting.10. Never apologize for being funny.
The world is too damn serious. We need you. Seriously.11. Never apologize for being human.
Once you do, you’re no longer human, you’re a cyborg.12. Never apologize for being passionate.
Unless you’re passionate about stabbing strangers with
broken Coke bottles.13. Never apologize for being smart.
That’s the ONE thing the government, the media
(and every other entity that’s trying to control you)
is terrified of: Smart people who take action. Be one of those people.14. Never apologize for being the age that you are.
It’s just a number. A chicken ain’t nothing but a bird, as my Grandpa likes to say.15. Never apologize for breaking a rule that isn’t really a rule.
Be proud of yourself for being a rule breaker.
Then go break another one.16. Never apologize for calling bullshit on someone.
Especially when nobody else is the room is going to do
it and this person REALLY needs to be taken to task.17. Never apologize for demanding respect.
If you’ve demonstrated that you deserve respect by giving it to others first, you’re good to go.18. Never apologize for disagreeing.
Especially if you do so respectfully. On the other hand,
if you’re disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing,
or because of your pathological need to be right,
that’s a different story.19. Never apologize for expressing yourself.
That’s all “leadership” is:
The full, free expression of your truth.
Don’t say you’re sorry for that.20. Never apologize for falling in love.
Your heart’s calling the shots.21. Never apologize for falling OUT of love.
Your heart’s still calling the shots even when you throw up an air ball.22. Never apologize for getting something off your chest.
That which you suppress will find a home in your body.
And then it will trash the place.23. Never apologize for giving it your best shot.
As my Grandpa also reminded me,
“You do the best you can with as many as you can.”24. Never apologize for growing up privileged.
As long as you scrap the entitlement attitude,
remain grateful for everything you’ve ever been given
and respect the life situation of those who are less fortunate, it’s all good.25. Never apologize for having an overabundance of love in your life.
Instead, circulate what you’ve got. Pay it forward.
Share it. People need it.26. Never apologize for lack of experience.
Instead, share your Learning Plan; demonstrate
your dedication to lifelong learning and practice
becoming the world’s expert at learning from your experiences.27. Never apologize for lack of information.
Ignorance is acceptable. Staying ignorant, however, is stupid.28. Never apologize for liking stupid movies.
Movie snobs annoy me. Some of my favorite movies
are among the most ridiculous films ever made.
So I love Hangover. Sue me.29. Never apologize for living your truth.
Few things in the world are more important.30. Never apologize for looking out for yourself.
Self-preservation is a primary driver of human behavior.
It’s how we’re wired.31. Never apologize for loving yourself.
If you do, you probably don’t love yourself as much as you thought.32. Never apologize for making a decision from the heart.
Remember: It’s not thee truth it’s YOUR truth.33. Never apologize for needing alone time.
Solitude is soil. Solitude is medicine.
And if you don’t get your fix every day, your life will suffer.34. Never apologize for needing to use the bathroom.
Yesterday a woman in my class walked out of the
room and actually said to the instructor,
I have to pee, I’m SO sorry. Unbelievable.35. Never apologize for not being there when someone called.
You have a life, too. People can’t expect you to wait eagerly
by the phone all hours of the day.36. Never apologize for not embracing someone else’s agenda.
Especially if that agenda robs you of your true talent.37. Never apologize for occasional absentmindedness.
Everyone’s brain farts.
Be well & Be good to each other.
killthelights:(via -bears)
r3d:
One year ago today, I arrived in New York for the second time in my life (the first being to meet him). We had just spent three days driving across the country together after seeing each other in person only once before. I knew it was a risk, I knew it was going to change me, I knew I had a lot of soul searching to do… what I didn’t know was that this was the best fucking decision I would ever make. I have smiled every single day for the last year. This boy makes me feel incredible. This boy is why I now cry at all those sappy movies I used to cringe at. This boy has forever redefined the word ‘love’ for me. One year ago today, in so many ways, I started the rest of my life.
<3
nice story. i’m a firm believer of takin’ risks. your world opens up when you simply do.
