So many people who've reached a certain level of success and prominence have repeatedly expressed the same learning lesson: Nothing is ever as perfect as it seems, and no amount of money or fame is going to magically fix everything.
Yes, but why is it so hard to digest this information? To actually take it to heart. To stop romanticizing things that are simply figments of fiction created from our own imagination. To know there's a truth to every situation beyond what is seen by the eye is the first thing to disappear in the mind. But that old adage saying the best things in life are free is so true. And maybe that's what scares people the most into thinking otherwise.
I've been reading up on all of the amazing essays, think pieces, and social media posts dedicated to Anthony Bourdain this past weekend. I've never had the pleasure of working with him or ever being in the same room as him through some industry function. I've known nothing beyond my experiences of watching his tv shows or interviews, so learning more about him through all of the deeply personal messages dedicated to him has been really moving. It just makes me so sad to think that he saw suicide as the only way out, and seeking a solution through any other resource was futile. I think just like how our physical bodies break down and get hurt, the same thing happens to the brain. And mental health is a real issue that needs to be taken seriously.
I used to write a lot more on this blog about being depressed and feeling down, but it's something that's gotten better for me with time. However, for the periods when I do still feel it, I don't want to bring it anymore thought or attention to it, so I push it away and definitely don't write about it. But I can't lie and say it never happens, because it still does on a regular basis. I try to deal with it all in more positive ways now, and small things like taking deep breaths and pausing the racing hamster wheel of thoughts in my head has been helpful. But what I've realized most in all these years is that it's during the cloud of depression when the instinct to hide away from the world is strongest, when in actuality, that's the time when friends and support are needed the most.
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