In do hope that Robin Williams woke up in a place that looked like this, free of the pain that caused him to take his own life. I am somewhat concerned that his actions might model to others suffering with mental illness and addiction something like: "If someone like Robin Williams with all his material resources couldn't find some way to overcome his pain, other than by suicide, then what hope is there for me?" I'm not saying, either, that suicide is the worst thing that can ever happen. Living with intolerable psychic or physical pain or the terrible disease of addiction might be worse than suicide. I don't know. I do think, however, that trying to live with all that plus the burden of celebrity was maybe the one thing too much for Mr. Williams. People should not have to carry our collective projections of "happiness"and "importance" for us. Truthfully, if not being a celebrity might have saved his life, I would have gladly foregone the delight he brought to me and anyone who watched him perform. Maybe he would have just been your crazy funny neighbor, working in a bookstore, delighting all his customers. The world would have only been brighter in his little corner of it. Then maybe he could have continued on with healing into life instead of into death, to borrow a phrase from Stephen Levine. So to any reader out there or friend of a reader, keep on in your own little corner of the world. Let Mr. Williams' life be an example to you, not his death.
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