"Amy" (Winehouse)
Reviewed by Joy Ramos Davis

Synopsis: The Academy Award-winning documentary features the fast track rise and tragic death of musical artist, Amy Winehouse from England.  She died at the young age of 27.  You'll learn about what contributed to her addictions, eating disorder, co-dependent relationships, and great need for privacy.

Warning: Contains Spoilers

Her Authentic Voice

Welcome to "Conscious Movie Reviews."  I'm your host, Joy Ramos Davis and here to review "Amy."  Amy's short-lived musical career went from recording her first album at 19 and winning several Grammy awards, including "Album of the Year," five years later. She was an accomplished Jazz singer with a style that ranged from blue-eyed Soul to R&B.

Amy communicated authentically through her voice that attracted legions of fans worldwide. Her music was like Medicine from the Earth; she was an alchemist with her voice.

Internationally renowned voice coach and sound healer, Stewart Pearce, teaches that when you connect with your "Signature Sound," it is a vibration from the core of your being, reflecting who you truly and completely are. Like Amy, you are communicating with integrity.

"Those around us will sense our authenticity, our power and our wholeheartedness," explained Pearce.

The Roots of Amy's Addiction

On July 23, 2011, Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning in her home at Camden Square, London.

The roots of Amy's addiction can go beyond her childhood upbringing by a mother who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and took a very soft-parenting approach that gave Amy loose boundaries; parents separating at the age of nine that she blamed her father for; being placed on anti-depressants at an early age; and becoming bulimic at 15.

For her Soul's evolution, it's very likely that Amy had a pre-birth agreement of coming into this world as very heart-sensitive, but having trouble coping with her sensitivities to the point of dulling her strong feelings. This set her on a course of not wanting to feel deeply from her heart, ultimately deadening her Soul's experience.

Emotionally blunted, Amy sought stimulation through drugs. Her earliest experience of having a distorted sense of reality and feelings was from taking anti-depressants in her youth. This was a gateway to recreational drugs, like crack cocaine and heroin that did the same.

And by becoming bulimic, food served as a buffer to her emotional sensitivity.

For young girls, their Soul self can be crippled during a family separation and divorce. There's a harsh disconnect to their own feminine energies of loving nurturance; they feel cold and empty inside. For Amy, she became emotionally arrested around the time her father left.

Violating the Law of Balance

For our Soul's journey, divine laws are in place to learn from and master. They can even correct imbalances in your Soul traits.

Based on the Life-Purpose System introduced by Dan Millman, Amy Winehouse was born to deal with the dynamic tension between her drive for wealth, power, and respect and the fear of it. This was seen in her passive-aggressive tendencies. A close friend described Amy as someone trying to disappear. The goings-on of her life was not for mass consumption through the media.

By working with The Law of Higher Will, Amy's higher purpose was to clear subconscious fears that lead to self-sabotage. An excellent way to correct self-sabotage is by doing acts of selfless service.

Amy violated, rather than worked with the Law of Balance.  Moderation of food and drink was a challenge for her, so was being passive-aggressive, along with Amy's unhealthy ways of giving and receiving when she was emotionally needy.

According to Millman, "The Law of Balance can teach us to learn to work with both sides equally and return to center."

A Death Wish?

Amy understood that if she drank too much, it could stop her heart, so she overdosed on alcohol - about five times over the legal limit allowed.

Was this a death urge? Very likely.

Amy left clues along the way about wanting to end it all. A big hint was titling her second album, "Back to Black" with black suggesting the dark void you pass away into. Fans now recognize that the song by the same name foreshadowed her death - Amy's requiem.

Just like other great musical artists that left us too soon, Amy died at the age of 27, just like Jimi Hendrixx, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain.

What is it about this time of life?

Based on the astrological concept of Saturn Returning, it relates to the amount of time it takes for Saturn to make a full orbit around the sun, anywhere from 27 - 29 years. For an individual, that is when they are nudged into a new level of adulthood that requires more self-discipline. Saturn becomes the great taskmaster, giving you your greatest life lessons that can lead to excellence and mastery if you work through your inner blocks.

For Amy, she chose not to make the effort. She just didn't care anymore, letting her Life Force die out.