This week marks the release of the seventh movie in the Star Wars series, The Last Jedi. While the film is hotly anticipated, it is also a time of sadness. Carrie Fisher, who played heroic Princess Leia, passed away in December of 2016. Audiences can thank their lucky stars (!) that Fisher had just completed filming her role in The Last Jedi.
Fisher was a fine actress, unsurprising since she came from strong Hollywood stock like Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. But like many who grow up in the spotlight, her life was nothing like the façade of glamor and sophistication Hollywood projects. She had a complex, often difficult relationship with her parents, and like her father, had a lifelong battle with bipolar disorder. From a young age, Fisher struggled with mental health, drug addiction, and alcohol.
In a life full of such remarkable highs and awful lows, Fisher developed a fighting spirit and a wicked sense of humor. She never conquered all her demons, but she did offer compelling thoughts on pushing through difficult times. The Star Wars galaxy far, far away and this current Milky Way have lost an incredible spirit, but as audiences watch her final performance of her iconic role, may she be remembered as the powerful woman she was, and wanted to be.
1. "I haven't ever changed who I am. I've just gotten more accepting of it. Being happy isn't getting what you want, it's wanting what you have."
2. "Everything is negotiable. Whether or not the negotiation is easy is another thing."
3. "There is no point at which you can say, 'Well, I'm successful now. I might as well take a nap.'"
4. "Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."
5. "Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What's important is the action. You don't have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow."
6. "I'm very sane about how crazy I am."
7. "Going to AA helped me to see that there were other people who had problems that had found a way to talk about them and find relief and humor through that."
8. "I'm not happy about being older, except what are the options?"
9. "Going through challenging things can teach you a lot, and they also make you appreciate the times that aren't so challenging."
10. "No motive is pure. No one is good or bad -- but a hearty mix of both. And sometimes life actually gives to you by taking away."
11. "It's the most amazing thing to be able to forgive."
12. "I heard someone say once that many of us only seem able to find heaven by backing away from hell. And while the place that I've arrived at in my life may not precisely be everyone's idea of heavenly, I could swear sometimes -- I hear angels sing."