It is a sad coincidence that as I was writing a blog for this morning’s LRC, actor Robin Williams had – unbeknownst to me – just committed suicide. Williams had created a number of great films, my favorite being the Dead Poets Society, to which I had referred in my blog. The death of truly creative men and women is always distressing.

I have no way of knowing with what inner turmoil Williams struggled that led him to this tragic end. The culture in which we live encourages our seeking meaning in life by attaching ourselves to such external values as fame, wealth, and power. Rather than finding purpose within ourselves, through qualities we are better able to direct, most of us have been conditioned to seek it by satisfying the expectations of outside forces. Whether he was struggling with such concerns will only be known to his family and close friends. It would be sad to discover that a man whose works had helped so many to explore the inner, spiritual side of our being, was unable to find it for himself.

The Best of Butler Shaffer