"But when you get there, it's hard to talk.
You are reaching out from such a far away place."
"Perhaps it was that unrelenting stream of emotion that led Williams down a difficult path..."
Following a performance of her one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, a few years back, Carrie Fisher was surprised to see one of her longtime friends show up backstage, alone and in a particularly serious mood. His name: Robin Williams.
"He was something you just don't see, like a comet. I hope he's like a comet and he comes again, but that would be selfish,” she said, adding that his energy and comic delivery was "unstoppable." "I'm sorry he punctuated his sentence before it had run its course. But he packed in five lifetimes before he left."
So accomplished was Williams that Fisher likened him to legends like Charlie Chaplin and Mark Twain.
"The reason I bring up the conversation after the play is because we were both slowed down. That was the one time that he was very serious. … I could tell he was struggling then. … But when you get there, it's hard to talk. You are reaching out from such a far away place. What do you say? You don't want to be a burden and you don't want to seem like you feel sorry for yourself — it's humiliating among so many other things," Fisher said, before tearing up on the other end of the line. "He made us all feel like he wished he could. He brought joy and surprise, and he would take you places you wouldn't even know you wanted to be. He gave you all the things he would've wanted to have. And that's what made him so generous." - Source
I feel very sad. Prayers for Robin and his family - and Carrie Fisher too.
+May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.+
Song for this post here - don't know why...
+RIP+
O All-hymned Mother of God, crushed by thy sorrow at the Cross of thy Son and God, accept our tears and expressions of sorrow, and save from every sorrow, affliction, and eternal death all those who hope in thine ineffable kindheartedness and cry out to God: Alleluia! - Kontakion XIII
I saw one blog that criticizes people for mourning the death of Robin Williams when so many are being murdered in Iraq. I was never a big fan of Robin Williams - he was too manic for me - but I totally understand those who do mourn for him, especially in the tragic way he did. He was a human being whom many people felt was a real part of their lives. He shared his God given talent with the world. And he was obviously a very troubled human being. There are many lessons to be learned from his life, the first and foremost that nothing in this world, not even fame and fortune can bring us the fulfillment we need and desire. "My heart is restless until I rest in you, O God."
ReplyDeleteI believe "Catholic in Brooklyn" means this blog: http://veneremurcernui.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/stark-comparison-between-the-reaction-to-robin-williams-death-and-the-mideast-persecutions/#comments
DeleteI'd point out that while lessons can certainly be learned anywhere, it isn't as if it requires the suicide of a famous actor to teach us that fulfillment cannot be found where the rich and famous tend to dwell. Such lessons are as ancient as the Book of Ecclesiastes.
...my heart just breaks when I think on the torment within the souls of people who kill themselves. It is massive, unbearable, relentless and so very dark. A couple of years ago, I was greatly tempted in this area - and I went to confession...the priest (we were in face-to-face) talked about how this severe depression and being lead to self-destruction is a tool of the evil one. And it is. We just don't talk much about this.
ReplyDeleteGreat song Terry - reminds me about some line or other, about dangers of flying so close to the sun...
Now when I sink down so low, I really try to offer it Christ, and his most Holy Mother - all one can do- and ride it out.
I have been consoled to read about certain saints who one would not expect to have experienced great desolation & torment: St. John Vianney, St Jane Frances de Chantel.
I feel so very sad about this -
Consolata....who so wishes someone was there to hold and console him.
His death seems to have hit people (myself included) at a deeper level than other celebrity tragedies. His story seems to be the story of America. He grew up in wealthy, exclusive communities and schools, and yet was eager to speak for and be a regular guy. He couldn't shake the contemporary crutches of comfort/leisure and then multiple spouses/substance abuse. Like most Americans he took comfort in and shaped through film an escapist ethos that is unwilling to grapple with the real drama of life (original and personal sin, repentance, demons, the steep climb of sanctity), and many of Williams' own movies tried to provide a way around the orthodox christian worldview. In a sense, movies like Patch Adams et al were deeply Episcopalian, and tried to reassure the viewer through sentimentality, neat solutions and a fat dollop of kindness/compassion that everything would work out in the end. There was also a strong element of Peter Panism that repeatedly surfaced in the movies.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, Episcopalianism and Peter Panism are pseudo-solutions to the real fabric of human life, and Christ asks us to look at the cross and take it up. As the flawed elder priest used to say to the saintly young cure in "Diary of a Country Priest", "You've got to face up." Ultimately, faith in Christ allows you to "face up", and with his grace you can do so with peace. I hope Robin Williams has finally found peace,
Excellent.
Delete