Saturday, August 16, 2014

Sadness and Joy

Stepping out of my comfort zone a bit today, to finally say (write?) a little bit about how profoundly sad I am that Robin Williams is no longer here. I didn't know him. I had never met him, or even seen a show in person, so my relationship with him was completely one-sided. I didn't love every single thing he did or said in his comedy career, but I did admire his ability to create joy. From his debut as Mork (the name I stole for my own son on the blog), right up until his latest sitcom in 2013, and for all the moments in between...I loved Robin Williams. 

I didn't love him like a teenager crushing on Harry of One Direction, or like a middle-aged woman loves David Cassidy, and I don't know if I can really put it into words...but I loved him. I loved that he brought laughter wherever he went, and I loved the times his face would go serious, and a part of him would reach deep into my soul. It was like he was speaking out of the screen and directly into my heart. I know he was acting. I know he wasn't talking to me. I know he wasn't even (necessarily) talking about himself...but it felt so profound. It was just part of a movie, but it was part of me now. It was just an interview, but he had invited me (and millions of other viewers) to be a part of his life. It was just another comedy routine, but I love to laugh, and he made me laugh out loud...in my living room...sometimes even during the lowest parts of my own life. 

And now he is gone. 

No other celebrity death has affected me this way, and I'm not sure why this loss leaves such a void in my heart, but it does. I have not felt much like laughing since I heard the news, but my life goes on, so I will do my best to find the joy in this and every day. I will knit, and I will blog, and I will smile at strangers, like I have always done. I will think of the times that I have wanted just one person to smile, to laugh, to share joy and love with me, and I will try to leave a little bit of love and joy behind wherever I go...just like Robin did. 

Won't you join me? Just smile at one person (or more) every day, whether you know them or not. Be a little wacky with your family, even in public sometimes. Let's help to create a legacy of lingering laughter that Robin Williams himself would be proud of.

Nanu Nanu

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things. (Gal. 5:22-23)


2 comments:

  1. Thank you, Pam. I haven't been able to find the right words. I saw his What Dreams May Come years ago and came away deeply moved: a dead man on a quest to reclaim his wife, who had died by her own hand and was consigned to eternal desperation among others who had done the same. He found her, he reclaimed her, he loved her back into beauty and light and in that world she could feel it and respond to it.

    I have held onto the message of that movie for his sake since his passing. May God bless him and his loved ones, deeply.

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