Thursday, August 28, 2014

20/20 The Life and Death of Robin Williams Special Full Episode.

At the 26:00 mark into this video, he refers to his charitable outreach efforts as the Buddhist gift and then says, "I would call it the Christian gift. . ." which is about giving back and being part of something greater than the self. Like many people who might identify as Christian, he never shied away from pointing out hypocrisy. How many big-talking conservative Americans actually went to Iraq or Afghanistan ? Though I was dimly aware that his mother got involved in "Christian Science" I admit that despite being a fan of Robin Williams since at least 1978 I was sure he was agnostic or an atheist. It is sad to find out in this context, after his death, he believed in " a loving God" as he says in that segment of this video, 26 minutes in. We can believe what we wish with the full power of our will and intuition, but if the mind/body chemistry is off it can end up driving the bus and obviously any one of us might be passengers in our own lives or deaths. It must also follow that we may not be in full control of our day-to-day plans and routines and choices to fully live life unless we can make sure our health is right and don't kid ourselves that we are totally in control. The unconscious mind, our food, our water intake, medications, the onset of an illness, our sleep, and our unwillingness to face weakness may together wrest control unless it is managed. People can be fickle. Moods can be fickle. If character is action, then Robin Williams confronted many demons from himself and others when he had control. Turns out his contracts for events even had a rider that insisted homeless people be hired and put to work during any show. Hopefully others carry that on.