I watched the movie The Whale last night. What an amazing movie. I love the director’s work. He’s done such iconic and touching films. This one was no different.
It is based on the life of a reclusive man who is obese. As sad as this movie can be, it is incredibly touching and inspirational and helps us remember how all people are the same. We all have deep feelings. We all desire love and unity with God and our fellow man. We are all God’s children and have a soul that is perfect as the True Divine Self.
This movie hit me in a way that was unique. We all have deep rooted addictions or secrets. As it was said in the movie, this man was visually disgusting. His behaviors were disturbing. His appearance was disturbing. The power of this film is that it is a visual representation of the depth of his trauma and abuse. It was visual! I am thankful to see the visual sickness because almost all people have hidden sicknesses. We all have trauma and abuse that we hide very deeply. We tend to run from or cover up our trauma and hide how we act out based on that trauma. We overindulge. We get stuck on the anesthesia in our Wound Care (refer to the blog on August 25). The last thing we want others to see is our “disgusting” secrets. Visually this person Brendan Fraser plays is just like each of us emotionally. Some of us might have addiction such as alcoholism or pornography or you name it. Some of us might have addictions in other areas of our lives that are much less evident to our friends and family. We will hide our addictions and not face the trauma and sit with it. We even rank our addictions by comparing one addiction to another. Diminishing our addictions this way is a way of avoiding and addressing the trauma. We have a natural instinct in life to not die or feel pain. Therefore, we all run from pain. We have to sit with it. We have to feel it to want to deal with it. If we don’t feel it, everybody else around us will. They will see the toxicity or the addiction eventually. They will be impacted. The obese character in The Whale would constantly apologize. He apologized for putting everyone out or for his appearance or for involving others in what he was aware of as a big problem. We hide like him as a recluse who wouldn’t answer the door when food was delivered. There was a sweet scene as the food delivery person tried to get to know him through the door because we all need relationships and love for an abundant life. Hiding and avoiding with addiction is the indicator of deeper trauma that must be attended to. We run the risk of dying before we ever deal with this. I believe that we are here for a purpose that we have chosen to work on so we can level up in the next life. If we do not accomplish this goal, then we will need to try again in the next life and it may be even more difficult. Humility is needed to acknowledge the source of our traumas. It is needed for reaching out for help. We have so much ego that we cannot be perceived as weak by asking for help no matter the obesity of our issues. We are actually being so strong when we acknowledge a need for change and the damage our traumas have caused. EVERYONE has trauma and that trauma is there to lead us to Perfection. We can be models for others and not just overcome a problem for our own benefit, but be helpful for others since we all are in trouble. This is part of being a heartbroken warrior. We are fighters and pick ourselves up when we stumble. We all have heartbreak and we are big enough to face it and beat the issue at hand. We have all the power of our Creator that is inside us to do so.
To act without love for those that are visually unattractive is the same as acting out of hatred for ourselves. We judge others the way we judge ourselves. We are told, “Don’t be so hard on yourself”. Well, we are also so very hard on others. Maybe you don’t say it. Maybe you deny that you even think it, but we do. I do. Many of us look just like the whale emotionally or intellectually as we feed our negativity in our head and become this obese person. We can be very mean. We judge and comment because it makes us feel better about ourselves. We think … well, at least I don’t do that or how does someone allow themselves to get like that. We can even be obsessive or addicted with looking good and have a body dysmorphia which is an overwhelming preoccupation with your body and appearance. We are all the same. We all deserve love.
We all deserve our potential. We have to address our issues. This movie reminded me of that. My mind was changed at how I view those with obesity. My mind was changed at how I view myself and how I will judge others. Film can be such a powerful tool to impact others like all art forms. I am so thankful for stories like this that can push our world into consciousness and awareness of how we can raise our vibration to the highest level which is Love.
Today, when I see poor behavior or addiction or mental illness, I vow to think back to my own life and ask … why do I judge? I will ask … is this an indicator of something I am hiding? Am I viewing each person as a godly soul that seeks Love? Don’t I know I am just like others in different ways or the same. We all are fearful. We all are afraid to address deep rooted problems. We seek to be controlling so others will not see our issues. Eventually, we all see each other’s issues if we spend enough time with them. It gets hard on those around us. We may even apologize and feel bad, but not really address it. We don’t want to hurt others especially if we are avoiding solving the problem.
Today, let’s make a pact to feel when it’s not comfortable. Let’s make a deal to have humility and acknowledge that something is a problem like a trauma from our past or a way we run from that trauma with an obsessive behavior. Let’s reach out and get help from someone we love. Let’s talk about it with someone who will not judge us like a good friend or a family member or a teacher or a counselor/coach.
It is okay to be in pain. It is a strength to be vulnerable and want change. We all are hurting and seeking Love and Union. We all can be a heartbroken warrior.
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