my blue heaven can wait….

There are a number of theories about the afterlife – do we see a bright light, does our entire life flash before our eyes, do we hear the voice of God, or Allah or whatever higher power we choose or don’t choose to believe?

I want to believe that when I get to the afterlife one of these days, the higher powers that be will have created a space for each of us based on the things of genuine importance (spiritual things, not material) that truly resonated with us while we were on Earth.

If you’ve ever seen the movie “Defending Your Life” with Albert Brooks, it paints such a vivid, respectfully humorous picture of what the afterlife could be like. For me, when I get there I’m hoping that the first voice I hear is Jon Facenda, who was dubbed “The Voice of God” for his NFL Films narrative skills. That would be pretty damn cool.

I also hope to be able to hear sounds and see colors that were not able to see and hear as human beings. As an added bonus, I hope that I can hear the most recent music of Hendrix, Prince, Van Halen and Beethoven, and that songs are in keys at least up to K-sharp, as there’s a plethora of different notes to work with! If our spirits don’t die, why can’t they continue to collaborate? I hope that my afterlife includes the music that I love….jazz, R&B, rock and blues….this would make my final resting place even more restful! 😂

It speaks to the dysfunction of our society that I hope the afterlife is a place of true equality – where those who didn’t end up on the Amtrak to Hell are all very diverse (the more diverse, the better) and all have nothing but utmost respect for each other. If we only had that on Earth now, because it seems to get worse by the day.

Do we get reincarnated and come back to life, like Warren Beatty’s character in Heaven Can Wait, or like his sister Shirley MacLaine strongly believes, with a goal of making significant change for the better for our society?

Do we get the opportunity to reunite with our loved ones? If so, I want to talk with all of my ancestors, to better understand the lives they lived and the things they had to endure. Plus I’d love to talk to innovators, inventors and world leaders. And I hope there’s a way to replay the special moments from our lives…children being born, and the moments where we met people who changed our lives forever. These are the things we never want to forget.

Why has all of this been on my mind? Over the last month, I’ve seen a few close friends go through the tremendous heartbreak of losing a loved one. It’s a pain like no other. I want to believe that those who have departed are in a place of happiness and joy, and that they only want happiness and joy for those they’ve left behind. These are feelings that every human being should be able to have every day.

I wrote this post not to make light of dying and the afterlife, but to share my questions and thoughts, which I’m sure that many people have about it. Dying is inevitable – I don’t fear it, but I hope it doesn’t happen for a VERY long time.

May we all have peace, love and understanding in the time that we have left.