WILL (2021)

 If you’re like me, your introduction to Will Smith was through Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996). But, if you’re into music especially in the early revolutionary days of Hip-Hop of the ‘70s and ‘80s then Will Smith became a house hold name before his appearance in Fresh Prince. Regardless, how you came to know of Will Smith i.e., music, tv, or film, there is no denying that he has taken Hollywood by storm. 

 In his memoir, Will, Smith’s audience gets to know the real Willard Carroll Smith II through his childhood, adolescence, adulthood, claim to fame, his success, and how it has affected his relationships with his friends and family by stripping away the character and entertainment persona he has portrayed.  To tell you the truth, the image I have of Will Smith is the silly-goofball-comedic-duh-kind-of-dude he personifies in Fresh Prince. It is fair to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the power and wisdom in his story. Born in Philly and brought to life in Hollywood, Will definitely has the experience to back up his fame and fortune. His ego reduced to humility. His parenting skills always evolving as well as his self-awareness and his relationship with his wife, Jada. Success continues to knock on his door and to have money in his pocket, but he continues to deconstruct the walls he built around his heart over the years, because the one question that he asks while suspended over the Grand Canyon by a bungee jump is: How do I want to live?

 

Do you want to live your life in fear like he did throughout his successes wanting more and not being able to fill that void with more money, more materialism, more of this, more of that, achieving the height of success, having so much money he can buy his own island and live comfortably, being married to his best friend, and taking pride in his three children who are chiseling away at their own success and taking steps to establish their own careers? Or do you want to live your life like his Gigi, having a personal relationship with Jesus and pouring her heart into people and service with love and gratitude knowing that heaven is on the other side of eternity? 

 

Will is 412 pages of truth, vulnerability, personal growth, self-awareness, and confessions of a messy life. He witnessed and grew up in an abusive home, but learned to forgive his father for his militant up-bringing, gratitude for having a supportive family while he explored his creative passions and artistry and giving him the space to thrive and build the Will Smith empire. But his ego and selfishness became the barrier that created division, and in a sense, a paralysis of perfection. In a divine conquest and in the middle of a spiritual battle that has Will risking it all—his marriage, kids, career, love and a multitude of other things that make Will, Will, he sets out on a spiritual quest that brings to the forefront of his existence of who he is, and the changes he needs to make internally so that he can live his life in freedom of fear and perfection and not in a cesspool of egotistical selfishness.  My question to you is do you want to meditate and follow spiritual rituals that lead to other misconceptions of  religious aptitudes or do you want to follow Jesus, advance the Kingdom, and walk in the purposeful life that He has already created for you? 

 

Thank you Will for opening the door and bridging the gap between passion and purpose, for exposing the harmful truth of what happens to a persons internal self of being tempted and taking the bite of the forbidden fruit:  perfection, culture, materialism, and empty promises. There are no guarantees in this life except to pay taxes and die. The real questions is: How do you choose to live?