Jim Carrey – Un’MASK’ing His Inspiring Journey

IN BRIEF: Professional Counsellor Garghee elaborately details the life of Hollywood’s most talented comedian, Jim Carrey. You get to read the ups and downs about Jim’s life as an inspiration.

Jim Carrey, a phenomenal actor, a man who is the reason for so many of our LOL and ROFL moments and never fails to impress with his charm and his comic timing. His own early times were not as light as the comic roles he plays. They were full of hardships and obstacles. Let us take a journey back into the deeper realm beyond that Mask we all have admired.

This superstar made his first appearance on January 17th, 1962, in the house of Kathleen and Percy who had been previously blessed with 3 children. Jim was the youngest of the four. Owing to his parents not so good health conditions, he always tried to put a smile on their face. They remember him as ‘someone different’ from his three siblings.

Losing everything:
Jim’s father lost his job at the age of 52years and this came as a huge blow to the family; both emotionally, and financially. The family lost their shelter, and Jim, an 8th grader at that time, had to make a lot of compromises and work to earn bread and shelter for the family. He worked as a factory cleaner and caretaker. This started to take heavy toll on his behaviour and his studies, as a result of which, he decided to drop out of school.

So, basically, he does not have a high school certificate as he had to leave school due to financial obligations.

“We had problems like all families do but we had a lot of Love. I was extremely Loved. We always felt we had each other.”

He also faced a lot of issues studying, and struggled with his syllabi; and recalls his condition to be very similar to what we call Dyslexia. But, even at school he never failed to bring smile at everyone’s face. Smiles that he spread to millions across the globe in his later years.

“I practised making faces in the mirror and it would drive my mother crazy. She used to scare me by saying that I was going to see the devil if I kept looking in the mirror. That fascinated me even more, of course.”

Later in his life, he spent a lot of time being an activist to raise awareness about Autism as his friend’s son was diagnosed with it, and she called him ‘an Autism whisperer’ referring to the magical way he helped take care of her son.

Professional Beginnings:
“You are ready and able to do beautiful things in this world, and as you walk through those doors today, you will have only two choices: Love or Fear. Choose Love! And don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart.”

The family later moved to a humble camper van, but recalls to be way better than being in the factory among hostile work environment. This is when the parents started discovering Jim’s comic talent and appreciating it. His first appearance as a comedian was at the age of 15, at Toronto. But, he failed at it. It took a lot of years of perseverance and hardwork for him to polish his skills.

Here is what he says about pursuing what one loves and taking a plunge, “You might fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

Success Begins:
His first success came only in the year 1994, at the age of 32years. This was the very well received movie ‘Ace Ventura: The Pet Detective’. Yes! We all have watched it and loved it.. haven’t we?! Then came success with more determination and hardwork. He played a role in blockbuster movies like ‘The Mask’, ‘Batman’, ‘Ace Ventura: When nature calls’.

It wasn’t a bed of roses still. His movie ‘the cable guy’ did not do well and he saw a downward trail again for sometime. But, this determined Riddler made his way back with ‘Liar Liar’ and shut every critics mouth. He has won innumerable awards and recognition. His life is way more than all this.

His never ending enthusiasm to make it big and his focus on what is positive in even the worst of conditions are live examples of how much difference our attitude and response to situations can make. He also believes in the power of this infallible universe and says, “As far as I can tell, it is just about letting the universe know what you want, and then working towards it while letting go of how it comes to pass.”

He is a man with light and comic roles, and an extremely deep philosophy of life. Humble, inspiring, and grateful for all he has achieved. A gem of a person, he says,”I wake up some mornings and sit and have my coffee and look out at my garden, and I go, Remember how good this is. Because you can lose it!”

Here is a goodbye note which this amazing personality puts across straight from his heart, “It is better to risk starving to death than surrender. If you give up on your dreams, what’s left?”

So, never give up, do what you love and remember, there is something to be grateful for.. always!