A totally trippy, yet serious, post about life and stuff

I saw the most interesting show last night called, The Haunting of (insert celebrity name here). Basically, a psychic meets with a celebrity to help them understand what really happened at a site where something paranormal was experienced. This episode was about Pennhurst Asylum, which until its closure in the 1980's, served for a housing unit for the mentally ill. Patients were treated horribly, children were found to be strapped to their beds or left in cribs unendingly. For a long time, society believed it was in everyone's best interest to hide the mentally ill. I remember reading a journal by a Kansan woman, late 1800's, who described having to drive a neighbor's daughter to an institution. The girl, who was only mildly affected by some disorder mind you, probably something like high-functioning autism or aspergers, begged the woman not to take her. Perhaps one of the saddest things I've ever read. I wanted to reach inside that book and grab the girl and bring her home with me. These places were a cesspool for abuse, sexual and otherwise. Patients were drugged, beaten, had all their teeth pulled out for talking back. Can you imagine? How could anyone treat another human being like that? I often wonder what happened to that girl. Did she spend her life in an institution? Did her family ever come and bring her back home? It's so sad.

In this show—and I know some of you do not believe in the paranormal, so bear with me—the psychic and the celebrity (a really down-to-earth young woman) explored a few buildings on the Pennhurst campus. The psychic said Pennhurst is overfilled with souls who haven't figured out how to cross over to the other side yet. George Harrison was very big on learning the art of death and in a recent documentary his wife said that when he died, a brilliant light filled the room. He had prepared himself so thoroughly that his soul was already fully formed. He was ready. I know that sounds strange to many of you, but it makes sense to me. I've often thought of my death and how I will make a choice to walk toward the light. But what if, like these people at Pennhurst, you have never been trained in the art of dying? What if you know nothing of the light, of the other side, of your soul? I'm sad thinking of these spirits all trapped, still in a hell on earth, unable to pass through to the other side. They already went through so much, why should they suffer any more? Why aren't God and the angels swooping them up into Heaven? I've thought about this a lot, and all I can say is I think that we have free will, even after death, and there's no way we could just step into Heaven without some sort of soul work. So, even though it is sad that these spirits are trapped on earth, they do have a responsibility to stop the negative thought processes they have been taught, and open up to a pure way of thinking.

So that makes me think how in life we create such negativity—so much that it traps us on this earth. What if we were to enlighten ourselves?

What do you think about all this stuff? Do you think your soul is a life-long project, or just a hooey belief system best left for weirdos and freaks?

Happy Sunday to you all!