I used to have dreams that I was a WWI pilot in a Sopwith Camel. I didn’t know what a Sopwith Camel aircraft was before the dreams, so I assumed I was recalling a past life. Because even then, in my 20s, I could not have been in that war.
In the dream I could see myself plummeting to the ground after being damaged by enemy machine guns. It was like watching a movie from the archives of history, like a crack in time had opened for a few moments and gave me a show. In the end of the dreams, I always crumpled to the earth in an explosion.
I was convinced for a while that this was a former life. I even had a past life regression session, during which I may have been a little biased in my recollections. (Read about my session here.)
After some consideration, I decided it was my subconscious mind playing tricks on me. My brain had simply picked up all of the details of my “past life” war experience from books and movies. It spun them all together and presented it to me in my sleep like a virtual reality.
Listen, whether reincarnation is actually real is still up for debate. I fall on the side of once we’re gone, we’re gone. The thought is that matter can’t be created or destroyed, so it makes sense that we end up being something, whether it’s human or not.
However, I’d also like to argue that reincarnation is real — just not necessarily in the way you might think.
Different stages of life each have their own persona
Think back 10 or 20 years. Think about the way you dressed, the music you listened to, and your priorities. Chances are, they’re all different now. In essence, that version of you is dead.
If I met 20-years-ago me, I’m not sure I’d even know him from his actions and words. His world views were narrower, his biases deeper. I was still the same person by identity, but I would not be able to relate to him. After all, I have achieved more milestones. I now have a wife, child, and a mortgage — something the younger me didn’t really expect. That version of myself was a mere stepping stone to who I am now.
In some ways, I’m better, in some ways, not so much. But the point is that I’m different enough from how I used to be to see it as a different life. Just like my 47-year-old self can’t relate to my 27-year-old self, my 27-year-old self would not recognize my 17-year-old self. I’m sure when I hit 57 or 67 — if I’m lucky enough to reach that age — I will look back at my current life like a fuzzy memory and wonder which parts really happened.
Rebirth is not on a set timeline
There’s not always a hard line when one “version” of you ends and another begins. It’s more of a transformation that happens so slowly that you don’t even notice you’re evolving. Other times it can be a traumatic event or a major life change that can unlock your next iteration.
As we go through life we learn hard lessons and figure things out. We change physically — in fact, technically we’re a new person every 100 days or so through cell turnover — but we also change mentally and emotionally, completely altering our perspectives.
Maybe the current “you” can’t do some things that 20 years ago you could’ve done. Or maybe it’s vice versa. However, the current version of you is probably wiser. You can smell the bullshit a little more poignantly. You’re hopefully more grateful for what you have instead of complaining, because you’ve seen so many people without by now. You’re on a higher platform, getting more of the whole picture. (Maybe you’ve regressed into a man-child that spits conspiracies. Either way, not the same as the last you.)
Image Credit/iStockPhoto.com
If you’re an adult, I’d wager you could identify at least a few versions of yourself that would not relate to one another. You could put them in a room together, and they’d argue like strangers. (And current you would tell them all to shut up — or listen to what they have to say.)
Hey, maybe reincarnation in the classic sense is real. How am I to know? I lean toward scientific evidence, but there are still some things out there that we can’t explain. Maybe we do inhabit another body in a next life, and a past life flashes before us if our hard drive isn’t wiped properly.
Whether it’s real or not, we may never know unless someone writes about it on Medium (coff coff). But if you think about reincarnation as something that happens while you’re still alive, then you can count on being reborn.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism | Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box | The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men |
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Photo credit: iStockPhoto.com