Heaven is Here.

"Life is good," I was thinking. 
Hey, I was sitting in my suite at the excellent Westin Banyan Tree in Bangkok. 

Angie was in Thailand for two weeks to learn traditional Thai massage and I flew up one weekend to visit her.   That's right, she's learning Thai massage. 
I told you life is good. (send me an email to make an appointment).

Anyway, we'd had a good dinner with some Thai friends at the Hard Rock Cafe, and we'd had a good nights' sleep.  I was lounging on the Thai sofa. That's when I picked up the newspaper and read that Michael Hutchence had hung himself in a similarly excellent hotel in Sydney, the day before.

In case you don't know him, Michael Hutchence was the vocalist for the Aussie rock group INXS.  He was handsome, talented, famous, probably rich, and evidently for at least one night, depressed. Depressed enough to kill himself in a hotel that many people would kill themselves to get into.

I have to admit that I don't understand this. Life is so amazing, that I can't, even for a second, imagine ending it intentionally. There has never been a day in my life where I haven't seen something that made me smile, laugh, and shake my head.

Sometimes it's an old woman's' smile. Other times a dog chasing its' tail, a great song, or a gecko shimmying up my wall. Usually it's five or so minutes with some person who shows me something new about life.

In fact, last year I wrote a song about this.

Have you ever felt the drums, pounding like a storm?
Have you ever felt your lovers breath, soft and sweet and warm?
Well I have, and I say heaven is here.
Have you ever heard a song that sends a chill right down your spine?
Have you ever heard somebody say,  "I'm glad that you are mine"?
Well I have, and I say heaven is here.
I have, and I say heaven is here.

Every day, another way, comes along to show me how.
Every night, another sight, makes me glad I'm living now.
Cause I know, heaven is here.

Have you ever seen a sunset drip across the sky?
The clouds are ripe like fruits that will be falling from the vine.
Well I have, and I say heaven is here.
Have you seen a million cherry blossoms covering the ground?
Seen them floating through the air, as they die without a sound?
Well I have, and I say heaven is here.
I have.  Heaven is here.

Every day, another way comes along to show me how.
Every night, another sight makes me glad I'm living now.
Cause I know, heaven is here.

Have you ever smelled the freshness of a forest in the rain?
Have you ever watched a snowstorm from the window of a train?
I have, and I say heaven is here.
Have you ever seen a dancer when she's not up on the stage?
She still moves just like an angel that walked off of a page
from a children's book. And I say heaven is here.
I know, heaven is here.

So, I don't understand why he did it. Why does anyone do it?

Maybe they've seen it all.  Done it all.  Tasted it all.  
I doubt it.

Probably they were just disconnected.
We all get disconnected at times.   Disconnected by hate, greed, drugs, and other things. 
But mostly fear. Fear forces us inside ourselves, where nothing can touch us. Nothing can hurt us.
But we get lonely there.

He saw many things that we all dream of seeing. Maybe it had become white noise to him. 
Invisible.
Disconnected.

So my message for Christmas and the New Year is:  Reconnect.

Reconnect with friends.  With enemies (they're always good for a laugh). With nature. 
With dogs, sunsets, wine, Peter Gabriels' "In Your Eyes", and Bugs Bunny cartoons.
Everyday, for ten minutes, pick one thing. And reconnect. Appreciate it.

Because I know.
Heaven is here.