The TV series ‘Samantha Who’ is about Samantha Newly, who sort of gets ‘newly reborn’ when she recovers from coma after a traffic accident, thereafter developing retrograde amnesia – which is a condition where she retains general knowledge, but becomes clueless as to who she is/was and what she had done in life so far. She is ‘forced’ to rediscover herself and her relationships with others. To her surprise, she doesn’t like the past Samantha. However, she takes it in good stride by trying to be ‘reborn’ a better person.
Now, she’s urged to wipe the slate of past unwholesome habits clean, to make a 180 degree transformation. The amnesia provides a great ‘excuse’ to make huge changes without being suspected as hypocritical! With her amnesia that recovers little by little, as if gradually recalling previous lives, she takes the opportunity to reflect hard and make resolutions. It’s a little like Earl in the series ‘My Name is Earl’, who strives to remember past bad karma created to redeem himself. Samantha, however, pretends to be ignorant about the recollected past while setting up opportunities to make up for mistakes. It’s a good effort, though tainted by some pride at play!
The truth is, we too are like Samantha, who could change as much as she wants to be whoever she wants. Even though we do not have amnesia as in her case, we do have amnesia with regards to our previous lifetimes. This life itself is a chance to change for the better. To be more exact, this moment itself is as good a time as any other to change. We are reborn from moment to moment within this life too; not just from this life to the next. Waiting for amnesia to strike before changing is unwise – because it might not happen in this life. Even if it strikes, due to the force of negative habits that die hard, there is no guarantee that we will be motivated to improve. It is wiser to mindfully recall past misdeeds now and just change! (Confession: I’ve only watched about 5 minutes of an episode, but was curious enough about the series’ title to wikipedia for its premise!)
Since there is no fixed ‘self’,
you can always better your ‘self’
till you realise non-self.
– Stonepeace