Anthony Bourdain : The 'Change' We Did Not Anticipate

I still can't believe it. 

Here is a man who has it, had it all. A writer with a sharp mind, unforgiving words, formidable vocabulary, unrelenting truths, unwavering honor to life, dedication to good food, curiosity about different cultures and the willingness to traverse where no other man was willing to. 

And here is a man who decided that life was no longer worth living. 

He is a man I respect with no exceptions. He won me over with his unshakeable confidence and an inside look into a dysphoria unknown to the rest of us common folks. I was into every word he had to say, every minute of his shows, ever since I read Kitchen Confidential.

Here was someone I wanted to write and be like.

He called Mr. Bourdain “the leader, the author, the TV entertainer, the visionary - Olivier Nasti, chef

I've had this happen to me before in real life and the circumstances around it will become clearer as the days go by. One by one, reality will strike. Truth will be unveiled, hopefully, not for the whole world to judge, but for the family to understand.

A closure, when something drastic like this happens, is so, so, so important. Questions of 'why' will swirl like deep, violent undercurrents; there will be regrets and guilt; there will be uncertainty.

Walked down to the water's edge this morning to witness the earth casting its shadow onto the moon, and loved the reminder that we're sitting on a tiny rock flying through space. It sure puts our problems into perspective :)

A post shared by Buddhist Boot Camp (@buddhistbootcamp) on Jan 31, 2018 at 9:30am PST

His last instagram post holds no key to the mystery of his death either.

Light lunch. #Alsace

A post shared by anthonybourdain (@anthonybourdain) on Jun 4, 2018 at 3:48am PDT

“There will always be suffering. But we must not suffer over the suffering.” - Alan Watts

Here's a reminder of some Buddhist teachings that helps us understand that there is no self. No permanent position in this life that we're supposed to take or be a part of. Everything is changed, and so are we. Because people like Bourdain are consistently being fitted into molds that the public have conceived, it made him unhappy.

Maybe because his definition of life became inadequate because everyone knew him to be the renegade live-r of life, the beacon of success, the lighthouse for the adventurous. Maybe BECAUSE of the status, he felt that he was broken.

Maybe we will never know.

3 Buddhist beliefs that will soothe your soul (and make you much happier!)

May we all be a little happier with whatever we have on our plate today.