Or, the fairy godmothers of your brain
After releasing a shit-load of “head” frustration on Friday, by finally publishing this blog post…
I started thinking about Bourdain again. Roadrunner was on my mind.
Well, for fuck-sakes, I thought, he too had a cathartic outlet through his words. What gives! He was much, much, much more capable of getting help beyond his writing.
Then, I was instantly reminded of this:
Crap!
Now, I can’t go off on Bourdain, from above the grave, as I did my Dad when I was a pissed-off 14 yo boy. Yup… dear ol’ Larry, my amazing Dad, purposely ended his life too. At a young 36 years.
At some point, no matter how bewildered, shocked and mad you can get for people — especially your loved ones — doing… well… doing asinine stuff… a reminder enters that says:
‘Hey, remember they might actually need YOUR perspective. Don’t just presume they have the resources to ‘figure their shit out.” No matter how okay things appear on the surface.’
In other words…
Irrespective of wealth, status, or pedigree, everybody is going through something dark. There’s a Shadow side to each and every one of us.
Just how far we’re willing to face it head-on, and deal with the buried monster eye-to-eye… that is often the key to releasing what we never knew we had boiling so hot in the first place.
And, yes, facing it DOES indeed sometimes require a well-meaning friend or loved one to give us the proverbial slap in the face and simultaneous big hug.
i.e., Wake up damn it. Do it now, cuz you’re cool and I care.
I’m going to offer up some links, related to this topic, at the end of Sean’s observations below.
But, again, never forget (and in case nobody has told you this lately):
– You are seen
– You are unique
– You are worthy
– You are loved
– You are valuable to life!
Stay the course…
by Sean Carter
I thought it was impossible to have a better life than Anthony Bourdain. But his final bittersweet gift just knocked me on my ass with the stark reminder that adventure, love, prosperity, prestige…anything we aspire to at all…is really just the currency we use to buy the four things that really matter:
Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins.
Realizing that even that kiss that melts your heart… only melts it because those four fairy godmothers waved their magic wands and turned your brain into a freakin princess.
But if our brain hits us with a really shitty exchange rate, if suddenly winning that Academy Award only buys us a day’s ration of serotonin, then how the hell are we supposed to stock up for our whole lives?
That Anthony Bourdain can stand on the highest mountain and feel nothing but a desire to move toward oblivion is all I need to kick me in the ass and ask the most important question:
How’s my exchange rate?
What can I do to get more joy out of everything I’m presented with, big or small?
How does anyone do that?
I guess there begins one’s lifelong quest for God, psychedelic drugs, transcendental meditation, or whatever the hell else you need to do to bring true value to the external pleasures of the world.
Anything that promises, not pleasure, but perspective.
There’s a good case to be made that those are the things worth seeking first, before even love and success.
Because watching my little boy flood his brain with happiness because he found a cool stick on the lawn is all the evidence I need that “how you experience” is so much more important than “what you experience.”
Related Links
Roadrunner – Official trailer
Fantastic Fungi – Official trailer
Brainwave Shots – Activate your best states of mind
Speaking of Suicide – Resources
David Choe Remembers the Death of Anthony Bourdain: