Home→Forums→Tough Times→Anthony Bourdain
- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 5 months ago by Justine.
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June 12, 2018 at 9:48 pm #212275Hopeful33Participant
Dear all,
I don’t know why, as celebrity deaths rarely ever affect me, but since I heard about Anthony Bourdain’s passing, I’ve been feeling so out of sorts. I had been experiencing bouts of anxiety on and off for the last few months, but this news has made it even worse. I cannot stop thinking about it and I’ve been feeling so down and low. It’s as if I knew him and I lost someone close to me.
I guess in many ways I identified with him. He was an incredible storyteller, and as a writer I deeply admired his work. I’d listen to the voice overs on his shows and think “God, I wish I could write like him.” I love how he was outspoken about the metoo movement, how he defended minorities, how he wasn’t afraid to use his voice. I always detected a deep sadness in him, though.
I guess I’m writing about this here because I feel that if I share this with friends or family they’ll find it strange that I’ve been so deeply affected by the death of someone I hadn’t even met. I’m not sure what to do to make myself feel better. Has anyone else felt this way about a celebrity death in the past? How did you handle it?
A
June 12, 2018 at 10:37 pm #212277MarkParticipantA,
I too am deeply affected by Bourdain’s death. I also not one to follow celebrities or their deaths. I have been a viewer of some of his shows and I was struck that he was a frank, down-to-earth Everyman who embraced the ordinary as extraordinary, who empathized with the culture and it’s people.
I find myself looking for tributes, especially from those from other ethnicities whom he touched along the way.
How do I handle his death? I see the meaning of his life. I look to how I can bring what I admire of his life into how I live my own life. I believe one way to deal with the passing of those who were important in our lives is to recognize what were those good bits of them that I can acknowledge and maybe incorporate and bring forward in my life.
With Bourdain, I saw him speaking his truth frankly, whether advocating for the Latinos in the restaurant industry or being a heroin addict at one time. I want to be that authentic. I also want to bring more of his compassion for other cultures and ethnicities as well.
Mark
June 13, 2018 at 2:46 am #212291AnonymousGuestDear Hopeful33:
I felt sad too about Anthony Bourdain, not knowing him myself either. I was curious about what kind of suffering brought about his suicide. Thinking once again that indeed wealth and fame does not make up for the suffering inn-between-one’s-ears. Yet, it didn’t affect me the way it affected you.
You wrote: “It’s as if I knew him and I lost someone close to me”. You wrote that you are a writer and you admired his writing, that you loved how outspoken he was, that “he wasn’t afraid to use his voice” and that you “always detected a deep sadness in him”.
Maybe you project into his image your own deep sadness and that is what makes it feels like you knew him, that is, you feel like he was as sad as you are, deep inside?
anita
June 13, 2018 at 3:51 pm #212369JustineParticipantHi Hopeful33,
The same thing happened to me when I’ve heard about Avicii’s suicide last April (He’s a Swedish musician, I hope you now him). I really feel special connection with his songs – they inspire me to live life to the fullest, be carefree and ultimately break up with my abusive ex-boyfriend. So it totally came as a shock to me to find out he killed himself when the message of his songs is about basically living a happy and meaningful life? I cried thrice inconsolably during the first few weeks, but I dont know him personally but his work touched my heart and soul. And he was so young. 🙁 Then Kate Spade, then Anthony. He inspired me to go to India since I was 12 (I’m still working on this though. Im a female and it’s a bit dangerous to go there alone).
So you’re not alone Hopeful33, I guess we can make an effort on our part to help those in need and be more sensitive with the people around us.
Thanks,
Justine
June 14, 2018 at 9:01 pm #212533JustineParticipantI have always been passionate in becoming a lifelong learner. As much as possible I try to avoid the trap of falling into a daily routine. I am a creature of habit but I want my pattern to be significant and have a positive impact in the long run. I honing my technical skillset for my career, to pursuing my personal interest and hobbies, I would always dedicate more than enough energy to try to achieve my maximum potential for things that would spark my interest.
Being part of the IT industry requires me to be adaptable to the latest trends and frameworks that is why I am very dedicated in picking up new skills, or unlearning things if necessary. Overtime I am able to develop techniques that are effective for me – either I study things simultaneously or focus on one subject and work my way on mastering it. But for any technique that I choose, it all boils down in my critical thinking and problem-solving skills. I can say that I have improved and keep on improving the more I practice my craft. It is not right for me to overload myself cognitively so I constantly apply what I learn. These have thought me to become a risk-taker and not afraid of throwing myself into the unknown.
Having said all these, working for J&J would be a perfect avenue for me to apply my technical and intrapersonal skills. I am confident that I have the technical skills needed for the job based on my experience as a web designer I am quite familiar with knowledge management since my current work is not totally different from it. I hope I can also contribute to the back-end side of the content management system used since I have experience developing online forms. Moreover, I believe that I can handle the workload as I am used to working under pressure with different stakeholders. This had been a hurdle for me before in my early years of working but I have learned to take one step at a time and getting the job right as the main priority. I am now able to write effectively to my audience and provide proper feedback. Thinking about this specific job at J&J, I can welcome the writing skill as a challenge. Since I am keen on solving challenges and learning from them and writing is not actually far from my interests, I would be glad to dedicate time and effort in improving that skill which I believe would be very helpful for me in other aspects of my career.
I hope I can also contribute to the mission of J&J in providing care for the health and wellness of people worldwide as I do personally promote good health through high-intensity exercise and body building. More importantly, I am enthusiastic in collaboration to achieve the purpose of the business. I more than willing to work with other teams to improve the business and workflow to provide better results.
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