“To me there is nothing more sacred
than love and laughter, there is nothing more prayerful than playfulness” ~Osho
As I entered
the room of about eight people, ready to give the decision makers the best
audition I possibly could, someone asked me; “Did you hear about Robin
Williams”? News was just beginning to spread about the death of one of my
idols. What happened? Nobody will ever know what was going through his mind at
that moment; there will be speculation and “expert” analysis in the media and
hopefully a Universal awareness and movement toward empathy. The guy who made
millions laugh and entertained us unlike any before or likely will again had fallen
victim to the three hardest words in our language; “I need help”. It hit me
pretty hard; I asked for a couple minutes to process it and went ahead with the
audition a few minutes later. I went home and watched Mr. Williams dazzle a
room full of acting students and all I could see was his gifts that he so
freely shared with all of us. I laughed and laughed hard, it felt good. My
admiration for him will never waver and now more than ever, I can appreciate
his talent and empathize with his demons; I’ve knocked out a few of my own in
my time. I also understand what it is like to try and please “the masses” and
lose part of my personal playful spirit in the process. I have made a vow to
myself to not let that happen again because when all is said and done, it is
the personal relationships we build, the laughter we share with those closest
to us that keep us alive. Several weeks ago, having a difficult time with a
situation in my life and then possibly making a mistake in trying to resolve
it, I made a call to friend and told him that I needed help; three very
difficult words to drum up when you’re an independent and self-sufficient
person with a lot to be grateful for. However, he dropped what he was doing and
agreed to meet up for dinner and a new process began. Within seconds after
hanging up the phone is when the “volcano” erupted inside me. A couple days
later I met with a person who has, over the years, guided me in a great
direction and there appears to be tons of laughter on the horizon all because I
stripped myself of pride and asked for help.
The
following day another idol of mine passed away, an idol for a completely
different reason. Lauren Bacall, who was once the young, energetic,
independent, and life loving woman who humanized the great Humphrey Bogart
passed away. Together, their playful spirit and timeless love is something to
be admired by everyone. “Bogey became a little more giggly because of her” is a
quote that I read about them and it really hits home for me. They were playful
and full of laughter and that made for a sacred bond that was beautiful. She
was mature beyond her years and never ever took a back seat to him. By all
accounts, she made him a better man, a more open and free person no matter
where they stood individually. She lived a great life and had a wonderful
career in her own right, I read her book a few years ago and it inspired me
greatly. I’m not one to overemphasize celebrity couples or love stories, but
this one was different, the kind to aspire to. It’s easy to see in pictures of
them that there was no place they would rather be than together and I’m certain
they are again. Of course, I am also sure that they had to work some stuff out
together and that is the magic of it. Age does not necessarily protect you from
love and passion, however, I bet that it does work the other way around. Those
two “mega stars” were far from perfect individually, together however, they
created one of the great stories of all time. So there we have it, laughter
will inspire us to do great things and also may cause us to hide some things we
need to address. I do wish Robin Williams had the courage to ask for help and I
completely understand the difficulty of that task. Ask for it when things seem
to be overbearing and it will always arrive. In the meantime, allow that person
who makes you better, who dares to laugh with you, to love you, to trust you,
and feel free enough to create your own brilliant story.
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