It's neither a secret nor a new idea that comedy, like any other public display of creativity, is often rooted in dark places. There's probably a trace amount of what killed Robin Williams in my compulsion to write, as there is in whatever has driven the musicians I've discussed on this blog to put their ideas to vinyl, and so on for all the other artsy types making their way around this bright green globe That's a scary thought for every last one of us. Given that reality, it is truly remarkable that the overwhelming majority of us have fond a way to walk in the light, no matter how many shadows vie to obscure it.
There's nothing you can do for Robin Williams now - he fought hard against a formidable foe and lost. Death demands contemplation and bereavement, but it also requires you to up the ante of your commitment to the living. I'd imagine that the audience for my blog is largely comprised of the creative types for whom Mr. Williams' death - and the reasons for it - hit home hard. So I need to ask you all an important personal question: are you alright? If you're not, then speak up right now, as loud as you can. If you are, then go ask your friends the same question...and listen closely to whatever response they offer. No one's asking you to have all the answers - there are professionals for that - but sometimes attentive listening is enough, or at least a good first step.
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ETA: Rush Limbaugh - and those who will undoubtedly follow in his tasteless, pathetic footsteps in an attempt to politicize this - can fuck off right now. This is a human issue, you myopic imbecile, one completely separate from the sad, divisive spectator sport you and yours have turned American politics into.
