"I don't have depression now. I had it for years, but now when it rains, it rains, but it stops. It doesn't last long enough for the water to surround me and drown me." - Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey talks about his battle with depression. He explains how difficult it is when a person suffers from it and how finding freedom during depression is related to separation from the ego.
Carrey shares a startling realization he came to after years of stardom. It's completely pointless to spend our whole lives creating a certain identity, says Carrey. Everything is ego. The desire to be important, to be somebody. In reality, this perception of a unique identity only brings us pain and suffering for three main reasons.
First, it represents a separation between us and all other beings, dishonoring our own inseparable nature.
Second, it deceives us into thinking that things shouldn't change, that we shouldn't change.
Third, it takes us away from resting in our own basic goodness, because we feel like we're not enough right now, just the way we are.
The antidote to this suffering is to let go of this desire to be "somebody". As Carrey beautifully puts it: "The feeling of wholeness is a different feeling than "I". In order to feel whole, we must give up trying to maintain an image of the self.”
Based on his own experience, Carrey relates this truth to the state of depression: "People talk about depression all the time. The difference between depression and sadness is just coincidence – what happened and what didn't happen, sadness or whatever it might be.”
Depression is when your body says: “Hell, I don't want to be this character anymore, I don't want to keep this avatar I created in the world. This is too much for me.”
The word depression should be understood as "deep break". Your body needs depression. It requires a “deep break” from the character you are playing. This may be the best assessment of depression you've ever heard.
Let's take a break. What is "me" anyway? We let go of the identities we've worked so hard for. Instead, we live with an open heart and a sense of humor about ourselves and our world, because according to Jim Carrey, none of that matters.
“I have no more depression in my life - literally none. I have sadness and joy, elation and satisfaction, and gratitude that is beyond belief. But all this is like the weather that revolves around the planet. It doesn't sit on me long enough to kill me. These are just ideas.” – Jim Carrey
