Robin Williams was found dead today. The initial speculation is that he died by self-asphyxiation - suicide.
I've written about the complexity of suicide before and the fear that as a society we may be growing more selfish and uncaring. And I still stand by the sentiments in these two blog posts. The human race has a long way to go before we actually unite as a species. We have too many petty arguments that divide us and a general lack of trust, openness and goodwill to make us care for others or to necessarily expect other people to care about us. It's sad, but I'd like to think that we continue to become better, even if we're taking our sweet time doing so.
Death is always a tragedy a loss to those people that cared for him or her. Even the most vile criminal has someone who loved them who will feel sadness at their passing. And it feels even worse when it's a person who was not only good in his own right, but also did a lot to spread happiness and cheer throughout the world.
Robin Williams was that sort of a man - one who made such a significant impact on the movie world whether you laughed at his jokes or were moved by his words. His acting career is an interesting mix of the serious and the asinine - but in every role there seems to be a lot of him personally invested in the character and the story he's trying to tell.
We honor him best by celebrating his life and all the happiness he brought to the world. His death is but one small part of the story of his lifetime. There are far better things worth remembering. And this should be the case for any death that we experience in our lives. Every life has something worth celebrating.
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