The Tragic Loss of Heath -- A Profound and Deep Actor

The tragic loss of Heath. This is shocking; it’s unbelievable. I feel partially mourning, partially stunned. He was an incredibly composed and immensely talented actor. My favorite role of his was in “Lords of Dogtown” as the Venice Beach “skate-boarding king”. But this, according to his father, “tragic, untimely, and accidental” incident brings with it a huge host of concerns. Did Heath become too consumed by his work? His dark projects as a heroin addict or a suicidal character? Did he ever do an emotional “check-up” after his break up with Michelle Williams? Reports say he couldn’t sleep and couldn’t “stop thinking”. Acting takes more then resilience and perseverance. It demands tremendous clarity and profound determination of the will. I’m not saying Heath didn’t possess that, at all. But what I am conveying is you have to build your foundation first.

You have to focus on your spirituality, your emotional management, you have to understand your intrapersonal knowledge, and focus years on your dreams, goals, authentic likes and dislikes before committing to a profession as tidal and tortuous as acting. We must NEVER let our work and career or relationships with other people (regardless of how intimate) ever stand before or eclipse our emotional freedom and peace, spiritual identity, and mental clarity. If you commence a full-time acting career without an infinite awareness of the your own spirit, and a tried-true-and-tested system for keeping your life organized and your core values aligned, the profession will feel like a dangerous Tsunami. Any profession to which we commit must always come secondary or tertiary to understanding our spiritual place and identity, your emotional capacity and sensitivity, and your ground-level life management skills.

We should mourn Heath’s death, but use this as an opportunity to re-evaluate our life and ensure that we perpetually meet an enormously high requirement of staying inspired and emotionally, mentally, and most importantly, physically healthy. We can learn to look at death differently by appreciating life. We must also be reminded that life always has the winning hand to death. Additionally, we must demand that our social, peer, and close friend group is intuitive, nurturing, and inspiring, but all while deeply understanding that only we can create peace for ourself. Great poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “Only you can create peace for yourself. You can only create peace through the triumph of principles.”

So after so many captivating and incredible, but bleak, dark, and emotionally-testing roles, let’s hope that Heathy Boy is now exploring his “lighter and more blithe” characters in the Heavenly Theatre of an Aussie Paradisio.