Yes, the title is a bit of a nod to the film, known in German as "Und Ewig grüsst das Murmeltier" (And Forever Greets the Marmot), starring Bill Murray. The original title, "Groundhog Day," wouldn't quite fit these reflections.
I find the film attempts to portray the difficulty, the weight of life, with humour. At its core, there's a lot of truth in that.
The constant repetitions, the simple things that must be done over and over, and the way time feels – these are a huge part of everyone's life.
Behind all this lies matter with its duality. Duality? What's that supposed to be?
Simply put, it's about plus and minus, Yin & Yang, good & evil, day & night. Everything in our lives seems subject to this law of duality.
You won't find anything that doesn't also have another side. That's what makes it so challenging; we constantly have to rebalance ourselves and find our centre again.
Let's take one of the most beautiful things there is:
Love. Everything you love also comes with the fear of loss. You cannot love without fearing you might lose it.
This is the natural duality within us, ensuring we always operate within a field of tension between two forces.
The art of living lies in having just enough more of the better side for it to be positive, but not so much that the negative side becomes too prominent, thereby losing the added value.
Often, if you understand duality a little, you can mentally cushion the impact of the less desirable side, and life goes well. But everything must proceed harmoniously; it's no use resisting the negative side of duality. That only creates greater tension and is counterproductive.
Let's take something as simple as day and night. You can live in darkness for a short time, but in the long run, it will make anyone ill. However, if you spend a few more hours in the light, it will only have positive effects, with no negatives.
Duality is also found throughout the body, from health and illness down to the smallest cells, which are tiny power cells, themselves positively and negatively charged.
Ultimately, duality reflects a fundamental law upon which all life is built.
Its origin probably lies in the primordial story of good and evil, which came together in the matter we inhabit.
Before recorded history, there was probably only one force and no duality, as everything we perceive was created, built up. Evil destroys, good builds. That's why, if you follow this logic, the origin must also be good.
There's also the fact that good can exist without evil, whereas evil needs good as a host it can destroy, lest it ultimately destroy itself.
In Genesis, it's written that Adam and Eve could only become like God, and thus possess this duality, by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. This ultimately triggered a self-experience that we all now undergo here on Earth.
Which is probably the deeper reason for everything. We experience all sides, we are entirely on our own, and here we show our true selves. The actions we perform daily guide us in the direction we will one day truly go.
We are not judged; I am firmly convinced that we judge ourselves with everything we do. Life merely records it; that's all.
When our hour comes, the question then arises: can my soul, which represents that record, open the last door or not? And more importantly, what and where is the last door?
In my understanding, the last door is that tunnel described by all who have had near-death experiences. (Read here whether near-death experiences are mere fantasies.)
I think for some, the tunnel appears; for others, it simply doesn't happen. They remain stuck in that space but then understand what has happened because many others there have experienced the same thing.
What then happens to these spirits one day, I cannot say either. Good people, however, generally pass directly through this dimension that we don't truly perceive, and through the tunnel into eternity, where only goodness has access.
Everything else that will not find access to eternity ultimately exists among its own kind. Here on Earth, I can be a thief and portray myself as a good person with a lot of money. In the dimension where we no longer have a body, it's like among like.
That, ultimately, is the punishment. We have brought ourselves to a place we never wanted to be. Crooks among crooks, murderers among murderers, evil among itself. One can only wish them much fun and hope everyone understands the problem and can still choose the right path in time.