The death of Robin Williams is a tragedy. A loss the entire country is mourning. I have seen so many beautiful posts on Facebook. He was both a remarkable talent and he possessed an endearing personality. I have also seen people responding in anger. They feel that he took his life out of being a coward. I don’t agree with the latter, though I do understand that when people respond in anger they are grieving a loss too.
Robin William’s death reminds me that you never know someones story. You don’t know where they come from and what experiences they have until you get to know them. Talent and wealth do not equal happiness. Neither does growing up in a wealthy home. Oftentimes, depression (which Robin Williams suffered from) is a sign of unresolved grief. He also had a serious cocaine addiction for many years (though he did stop after John Belushi passed away and he never returned to it), along with an alcohol addiction. He stopped drinking, yet was treated years later when he started again. When I hear that someone has an addiction, I don’t think weakness, I think that person is in pain. I think, that person is medicating.
Stopping any addiction is a great thing and an enormous accomplishment. However, oftentimes, we stop what we are doing to distract from the pain, yet never fully understand how to process what is on the inside. We have to remember that anytime we experience a loss of any kind we have an emotional response. If we don’t process what we feel, that response will stay with us for a life time until we deal with it. Emotions have energy, they were never meant to stay in our bodies, they were meant to be released. As a result, grief gets worse with time unless it’s fully dealt with. The longer we wait, the more pain we stuff, the worse it gets and the worse we get. It can become hard to function.
In our society, we are taught not to feel bad. We learn to avoid rather than to face and process and that is a societal issue. It does damage, yet it is what we are taught, usually from the time we are young. I don’t know exactly what happened in Robin William’s case; however, I do know what I see in my line of work. To hear that someone was depressed and couldn’t take it anymore is devastatingly heart breaking. That process cannot happen alone, it has to happen in the context of community. Sometimes the more wealthy and famous the person, the less healthy community they have around them. It reminds me of this quote: “I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone.” –Robin Williams as Lance Clayton in World’s Greatest Dad (2009)
My heart also breaks for all of us. The community of people that witnessed Robin William’s work as we grew up. We became attached and now that attachment has been broken. It’s shocking and it’s grief. It’s important that all of us take the time to remember and to grieve. It’s important to share how we feel with others that will hear us.
Thank you Robin Williams for all of the beautiful moments you gave us in television, movies and stand up. You truly are unforgettable. I pray that your work will be remembered for the greatness that it was. I pray that your death will be a wake up call to us all.
