I’ve done work as a medium (and wrote a book, The Afterlife of J.D. Salinger: A Beautiful Message from Beyond) but don’t do it often. However, I felt very connected with Anthony Bourdain after his death, as many did, so I thought I’d try to contact him as a kind of “afterlife interview”. I’m not claiming this is him speaking, but I know it’s not me, and will leave it open to each reader’s interpretation. It was inspired by him, which is why I’m including his photo here. My feeling is that it’s an energy that represents him in a “soul sense” as he makes his transition, as is discussed in esoteric information.
As I was going into the session, I was dealing with my reluctance to doing it. I was thinking, “well, who believes this is even possible or cares anyway?”, which triggers my cynicism, the result of frustrated idealism. I saw something of that in him too and wondered if there’s a way past it. That’s why the session starts that way, to address that. Enjoy.
“The way to see this is as awesome ability to connect with others, which is what I did, too. The way I’d suggest going forward is to consider what you do as fun. If you can’t make it fun, try to find a way to see it as important. The way I had of getting around the globe had to do with fun first. Then it became less important as the years went by. It became harder to break the cycle of decent work to kill off my demons. It became more guided by trying to avoid something rather than trying to go towards something.
“If you get rest, food, love, etc., you will find out where to go and what to do. I lost something beautiful along the way, which was good people around me more often. I was lonely on the road, as well as deeply depressed. I couldn’t go into a restaurant without getting a lot of people focused on me. I didn’t like that, so I kept running away from that.
“I was not able to fully get to where I needed to be with regard to companions. I was not really wanting to commit to anything more than my daughter. So if I was escaping from something, it was me being down.
“I can’t express how very lucky I’ve been to have had the life I’ve led. There’s nothing greater than doing things for people that you love. I expect people may be feeling down about my suicide because they are afraid they may need some more help avoiding depression, and that’s a good thing. If I helped people call somebody it would be worthwhile. However, I don’t really feel badly about it. I didn’t call because I wasn’t wanting to be talked out of it. I’d committed.
“Now in hindsight, I was not really having enough fun. I was more into the importance thing, which will get you if you’re not careful. The fun has to be first. So if you can take some of the bullshit of life because you’re having fun, do it because there’s nothing better than that. If you look at yourself and your work as important, this will get you in the end. If I had to do it over again, I would have found a way to have more fun on the road because that would have saved me. But I was battling a lot of mind tricks I play with myself. Looking for answers to big questions was a biggie. Don’t become too invested in figuring things out. I did too much of that.
“The expectations, too, were hard on me. I wasn’t going to be privy to the life I needed because there were people relying on me that had to be paid. So this was a classic ‘I was living for others’ scenario, which was not what I needed. I needed to be less lonely and having more fun. So do that.
“If you want to say anything to people say this: I was not going to go further with my work. I was not going to have much more fun either because of my demons. However, I should have taken a cue from the life skills that I earned on the way: look forward to the next day. That’s what I should have done better. If I’d done that, I would have seen my way through a tough night. Do that. If you want to consider having fun, do that too. But don’t feel badly about how the world is. There’s a lot to be said about bad things happening which has to do with growth and love for one another that’s beyond our understanding.
“The atmosphere of living life here has to do with mercy for yourself and others by default because it all comes from you. If you need somebody to help you, there are people here. However, it’s not to say anybody should check out. My work has grown in maturation to the point that I was able to say ‘that’s all I’ve got.’ That’s what I meant earlier in ‘my work had nowhere to go’.
“Forget about everything in the world that’s wrong with it and just love it for what it is. This will help you move into a better place as somebody who is an idealist, because otherwise you will become cynical, which is a curse that I had, too. This has to do with the importance thing, making the ills of the world bigger than they really are. For chrissakes, I got upset when I got bad hamburgers! This is what I’m talking about. Don’t let that shit get you down. Okay? How’s that for a good read?
Me: Thank you. I send lots of love and appreciation, as many do.
“I feel that. I do. I don’t have anything else to say except that I love the world that I had so many good times in. I look forward to having more fun times here, too. There’s no end to what fun you can have in life, wherever that takes you. Take it from me, I’m here now without a paddle and I’m fine with it. You will be fine wherever you go. Realize that and you will have the broad perspective that drew you to my work in the first place. Go forth and have fun with whatever it is you’re passionate about. That served me well and it will serve you, too.”
