I came across the Jane Wagner quote, featured above, as I scrolled through some of the random postings that Facebook makes available to those who have enrolled themselves in its world within the world. I immediately liked that Jane Wagner quote. I passed the quote along on Facebook, and I found that lots of other people liked it, too.
On Wednesday, September 28th, as I undertook my morning perusal of The New York Times, I found two tragic stories that brought Wagner's observation to mind. In the "Food Section," Kim Severson documented "The Last, Painful Days Of Anthony Bourdain." Bourdain was a celebrity chef who ended his own life in 2018. Use the link to read Severson's article for the details.
 |
| Anthony Bourdain |
In a news section headlined, "National," Dodai Stewart wrote about Cheslie Kryst. Kryst was, among other things, the winner of the 2019 Miss USA Pageant. Stunningly beautiful, and definitely a celebrity, Kryst was also an attorney and an American television correspondent. Kryst committed suicide in January of this year, in New York City, by jumping to her death from the sixty-story apartment building in which she lived. Again, read the story for the details.
 |
| Cheslie Kryst |
As I read these two stories, the sometimes connection between "celebrity" and "celerity" struck me. The stories made me think of Jane Wagner's advice. Trying to move "too fast" is not a characteristic of celebrities only. We almost all do that, I think, and some of us more than others. Slowing down, and letting the world take care of us, in the way I recommended in my blog posting on October 9th, is very good advice. On October 9th, I featured a song by Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time." Thinking of the tragic deaths of Bourdain and Kryst, as reported in The Times, I not only remembered Jane Wagner. I thought of Simon & Garfunkel too.
Slowing down, we can make more than the morning last. We can make our lifetimes last - and there is such great possibility in these lives of ours, these lives that we have been so privileged to have been awarded (amazingly and without any truly good explanation for why that is so). Such a shame it is (it would be), if trying to move too fast makes these lives, filled with possibility, shorter, rather than longer:
Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
- Simon & Garfunkel, The 59th Street Bridge Song
 |
| 59th Street Bridge |
Image Credits:
(1) - https://quotepark.com/quotes/1806565-jane-wagner-for-fast-acting-relief-try-slowing-down/
(2) - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/27/dining/anthony-bourdain-biography.html
(3) - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/27/nyregion/cheslie-kryst-mental-health.html
(4) - https://nypost.com/2022/04/29/woke-dems-want-to-strip-ex-mayor-ed-kochs-name-from-bridge/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comment!