Every time a rich and famous artiste dies, we shed some tears, our heart is filled with sadness for someone we don't know personally, yet think we know so well.
What a shock to hear that Whitney Houston has passed on at 48 today. We had hoped that she would regain her true self after years of hearing about her tumultuous life of drug abuse and rocky marriage. But it was not to be as it looks like her life ended with regrets.
The greatest irony and sadness is that the woman who sang "learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all" -- never did love herself. The woman who was so loved and adored for singing those words for us to understand, she herself struggled to find her place in this world.
We will never really know what was going on inside her mind. Yet, the questions running through our mind are why couldn't she deal with all the money and success? But yet, it seems she lived a wealthy lifestyle. What made her want to consume those drugs? Drugs could be described as a rich-and-famous playground, but her dependency on it meant that she was trying to get the "high" all the time -- an escape into another world.
So again, this is a time of reflection for me and for so many others. How are we going to live as we grow older? How do we deal with our successes and non-successes? How are we going to deal with growing older, looking older, growing fatter, growing less prettier, sickness and whatever that comes with age?
For me, a musician at heart, I respect her talent. I know it takes so much self-confidence and constant self-reassurance to keep yourself going to do your music, even if nobody else encourages you to.
When I look at her life, I am sad because she has achieved something I never could do and yet she might not have truly appreciated it all.
When I look at her life, I am sad because she has achieved something I never could do and yet she might not have truly appreciated it all.
Rest in peace.
