Marilyn Monroe, Ernest Hemingway, James Dean, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse.
Do people not see it coming?
Is it really possible that someone is thinking of ending their life, someone has been pushed to the brink where they imagine the very act of living as pointless and nobody notices this?
It has been months since Amy Winehouse died, speculation carries on about what happened. Why it happened and how it happened. With all the coverage being given to the matter and Amy being such a public figure, it is hard to imagine why there was no one who could have prevented this suicide.
It was not the most unexpected thing. Most suicides are not. There are signs, some obvious, some subtle. And yet, most people look the other way. Sometimes it is because they do not want to acknowledge the urgency of the situation and at other times simply because it is the easier thing to do.
Most of us have gone through at least one moment in life when we have thought how simple it would be to just give up. Most of us also manage to pick up the pieces and continue. And most of us have known at least one person who needed help.
The last time someone told me how futile their life was and how they were just waiting to die, I asked if it would not be better to give up their life to social work. If life has to end then why not end their life as they knew it and go away to some place where they could contribute something to the less fortunate. Strive against poverty, for education, help at disasters.
It was definitely not the easy way out, but still, a way out it was. This person, having no intention to end it all in the first place, thought about it for a minute before immediately resorting to some retail therapy to make herself feel better.
I am sure, however, that sometimes all it takes, is just a glimmer of another way out. Somebody to see the SOS signal and help them step away from the small, dark, hysterical picture into the larger, brighter, hopeful picture.
What do you think?