Celebrities: On Heath Ledger's Death

Driving home from the gym today, I got a text from one of my friends. It said:

"Heath Ledger died today!!"

The way I found out about Anna Nicole Smith last year was the same way . . .a text. It's all so sad. And I just wanted to get home to check a celebrity blog to find out what exactly happened. It was as if this death, the death of someone I have never met and don't even know remotely, was somehow relevant in MY world. Like, how is this affecting ME? How can I write about it?

It's disgusting, if you really think about. Okay, so suppose I didn't think about what I would get out of it, the question remains why do I care about this person's death anyway? Why am I taking time out of my life to research and to even write about it this second? I have lots of shit that needs to do. (My room isn't going to clean itself.) If Heath Ledger hadn't died today, what would I be doing right now? Helping my life somehow, I'm sure. Is this really helping my life right now?

The image of Heath Ledger I have in my head is him walking on the streets of NYC with his daughter on his shoulders. It is heartbreaking that she will never get to know him. I wonder if he thought about her in the last seconds of his life? It was an apparent drug overdose. Why did he feel the need to end his life? Maybe in the coming days we'll find out more.

So, this guy had fame, fortune, a beautiful little girl . . . but none of that kept him here. Maybe it's because he was lonely, especially after his split with Michelle Williams. Who knows. What keeps any of us here? We can, theoretically, end it all at anytime.

What gives life meaning? Why do we go on? What makes us fully happy?

I have come upon these questions after a text and a celebrity blog told me a celebrity died. It's so postmodern. At times I feel as though I am lost in this postmodern existence. It seems unreal, intangible, pointless . . . it's so easy to lose touch with reality in these times.

Oh, and I'm sure everyone thought Britney would be the next celebrity to die in this fashion.