29 January 2016

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When A Celebrity Moves On

This month saw the deaths of performers such as David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Kitty Kallen, and Alan Rickman. One month. Happy January.

When we lose someone, even if they aren’t family but someone well-known – a musician, say, whose music was always there in the background of our lives – it can force us to put our own lives into perspective. Suddenly, no matter how old we are, we are made older. The continuity of having a beloved actor or performer always around us can have the effect similar to that of an extended family member…or a family member we wished we had. And, similarly, we can mourn as if we lost someone close to us, even if we never met them.

During these moments we begin to pay attention to ourselves, our accomplishments or lack thereof, using this famous performer’s career as a map of our own less famous trajectory. And, depending upon how we feel, we may end up feeling more lonely, less assured, or perhaps feel that the future is less clear.

This is a good time to talk it out, or, if there’s no one available, perhaps writing about your thoughts in a journal or web blog. Life is life, and when I’m working with clients I’m happy to allow the events which don’t directly involve my clients – like the passing of a well-known performer – to come into the room. Sometimes it can allow the client to search deeply and find feelings and connections they didn’t realize were with them but not realized.

[note: when I first posted this I included singer Joe Cocker’s name, however, while indeed he has passed away, it turns out that this happened a number of years ago.]