What happens when we die? When you need love and acceptance.
“You are loved. That is God! That is Heaven!”
Commenting on Erin’s view on death.
We continue our discussion on the two different views on what happens when we die with Erin’s view.
You can read the original article here:
Erin’s view on the afterlife is, like Riley’s, influenced a lot by her life experience until that moment. So we start with a little context on her personality and history.
☝☝️️Please be advised that this offers a lot of spoilers about the show.☝️☝️
Context
Erin is coming from a single-parent family after her father has died when she was a little girl. Her mother was an alcoholic and she was constantly aggressive, especially verbally and emotionally towards her.
When she grow up, she left the little island village for a bigger city. On the mainland, she got married to a man that was aggressive and violent. As she puts it in one of the scenes she “practically married her mother”.
At some point she gets pregnant and that motivates her to leave her husband and go back to her home island. There she becomes a teacher, taking her now dead, mother’s place in the town.
A consequence of the main plot of the series is that she loses her child and that is what makes her have the talk with Riley about what happens after death.
What is important
Erin has never felt love from her mother. She has always been rejected and condemned. Never loved, never listened to, never understood.
She ran away from her mother seeking to be loved and she ended up receiving the same “love” that she received from her mother.
She never had a family and she never belonged because of that. She could not call her house home.
That is why her view of life after death is among family and being loved. In the afterlife, she finds home.
And she’s not alone! She’s home! There are people there, and she doesn’t know it, but they’re her family .…And they love her.
In her heaven, she finds, not only love but acceptance. Something that she never had. She finds confirmation that her best, her best age, the peak of herself, is enough. Her perfect self is enough. She doesn’t need to try anymore. She is enough. Now she can relax. Now she can be happy.
And she’s loved. And she isn’t alone. And that is what we mean when we say, Heaven.
The journey
Erin is a religious character. So her journey toward love and acceptance is inspired by the angelic view of the Heavens.
She does not concern herself with the physical body. She imagines a soul leaving it and floating towards Heaven. She imagines the purity of her daughter’s soul and the love that she receives for that purity.
She’s wrapped in the feeling of love. Just pure, amazing love. Of course, she is. She’s pure!
Erin imagines her family waiting for her daughter, naming her and loving her, just like she would have loved her.
There are people there, and she doesn’t know it, but they’re her family. Her grandfather and her great-grandfather. And they love her. And they name her.
The purpose
In Riley’s case, his purpose was clearly stated: “I’m serving a purpose. I’m feeding life.”
Erin’s purpose is hidden. She seeks love. She seeks acceptance.
She has not found that while being a child, so she left her home seeking love somewhere else. She still feels that she has not found it.
So, she believes that she will find that in Heaven. She will find love, acceptance, family, and home. She will find that in Heaven. She feels that life on Earth is endurance until we feel that love that we deserve and want.
“And that’s why we endure all that we endure on this big blue sad rock.”
How is this image interesting?
In the image of death, we find our greatest desires and our greatest fears. Contemplating it will help you discover yourself.
If you, like Erin, have been hurt when you opened up and attached to someone then her image of Heaven might help you. Maybe the idea of finding love, pure, unconditional love, and acceptance will give your life a boost in a better direction.
Either way, don’t be afraid to contemplate death. Be brave! Dig deep inside your fears and face them. Search your desires and accept them.
If you want to re-read Riley and Erin’s views on death here it is:
If you want to read Riley’s view on death here is the article:
Knowing your fears will impact your view of the world and your mindset. Your mindset will impact your body. Here is how
If you want to read another excellent story about life and its purpose I propose you read Santram Meena’s article on “The little prince”
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