One of my top professional dreams was to one day collaborate in any way with Anthony Bourdain. His way of looking at the world, trying to find connections, being realistic and honest while simultaneously trying to find the good, inspired so many people. That’s part of why his suicide came as such a shock. How can someone known for being so in love with the world want to leave it?
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Please, if you’re having any thoughts of taking your life, know it’s not the answer. And call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8355.
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Also remember that no matter how perfect someone else’s life (or Instagram account) looks, you never know what’s really going on with them, so don’t compare yourself and find your own existence lacking. We all curate ourselves for the outside world, both in media and in real life. I will end with this long quote about #Bourdain from an NPR article about him (link in bio).
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“He will be remembered for his curiosity — and curiosity is hopeful. To be an enthusiast is to believe that you will duck around the next corner and find a place where you've never had anything like the bowl of noodles they're going to make for you. To be an explorer, always, without hesitation, is the opposite of cynicism. It's the opposite of surrender to all the blood and innards and, to quote one of his book titles, the nasty bits. To wander is to believe in the expansive worth of the world you live in and to have faith that you have not run out of people to meet or places to visit.
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I will miss this deceptively optimistic outlook, among other things. Bourdain may have had a snarl, a cutting tongue and closets full of demons he was often fairly open about. But he treated the world as if he had not given up on it. He treated it as if, at any moment, it might open itself wider, reveal a crack into which he hadn't ever slipped, with pen and paper, with a flashlight and a fork. And he might be able to help other people understand what was inside.”
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