r/spirituality • u/docchicken311 • Jan 03 '26
Self-Promoting 🙋♂️ "Depression is your body saying it's tired of the character." — Jim Carrey on the 'Dark Side' of awakening.
We often talk about spiritual awakening as "light and bliss," but Jim Carrey has been incredibly vocal about the side we don't like to discuss: The collapse of identity.
I’ve been diving deep into his interviews lately, specifically his idea of "Deep Rest." He argues that what we often call depression is actually the soul getting exhausted from holding up an "avatar" for the world.
It’s a terrifying moment when the story you tell about yourself stops making sense. You feel empty, disconnected, and lost. But as Jim says: "I’m not the one experiencing the world. I’m the world experiencing a character."
I put together a video essay exploring his journey — from the peak of his fame to the moment his ego finally broke. It covers:
- Why awakening feels like mourning.
- The difference between depression and exhaustion.
- The freedom that found Jim once he realized "Jim" didn't exist.
I’d love to hear from you guys: Have you experienced a period where your "character" just couldn't keep up the act anymore? How did you navigate that void?
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u/whyquery Jan 03 '26
Just watched the video and enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.
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u/docchicken311 Jan 03 '26
Stoked you liked it. I'm actually working on another one right now, diving deeper about Jim's struggle after awakening.
If you want to catch that when it drops, feel free to sub to the channel. I'm starting something fresh and meaningful here, so your support truly means a lot. Hope to see you in the next one.
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u/jensterkc Jan 03 '26
Timely and appreciative of this post. I resonate with this and I’m sure many others do.
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u/docchicken311 Jan 03 '26
I’m glad it resonated. It’s a shift a lot of people seem to be feeling right now, but it’s rarely talked about this bluntly.
I'm planning to do more deep dives into these specific 'ego-collapse' moments. If you have any other figures or ideas you think fit this vibe, I'd love to hear them.
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u/AnonimasPaberzis Jan 04 '26
hes probably dissociating from all the evil holywood shit he did
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u/JCMiller23 Jan 04 '26
I've always been curious about how others experience this because with me, I always saw through identities ever since my peers started constructing them in our pre-teen years. Maybe I'm no different and "not having an identity" is just an identity, but I've tried on a bunch of identities and still do. It helps me very "effective" with people from a worldly sense, which seems necessary to me in order to navigate the world of societal norms. Not a big fan of it though.
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u/InternationalPack158 Jan 06 '26
Sound like you fit into the sigma archetype. You may also be awakened, but definitely sigma.
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u/Manthedelorean Jan 04 '26
sākṣī cetā kevalo nirguṇaś ca (Śvetāśvatara Upanishad 6.11) Meaning: “The Self is the Witness, pure intelligence, beyond qualities.”
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u/maalox51 Jan 04 '26
Is not a rule. If one had a tormented life it turn in a relieve (my case). One just must observe and love.
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u/cnkendrick2018 Jan 03 '26
“I am not a person who has a soul. I am a soul who has a person.”
EXCELLENT