Reflections

Today is Take Your Dog to Work Day.  I have Jojo & Tressel here with me.  I left Pepper at home, as I usually do now.  She doesn't do well in unfamiliar places (except the dog park).

I feel I have to talk about the death of Michael Jackson yesterday.  His death was sudden and shocking; the man was larger than life.

The debates are already raging - how will we remember Michael Jackson?  Precocious child star?  Pop music genius?  Eccentric billionaire?  Accused child molester?

He may or may not have been all of those things.  But his passing makes me ask how any of us will be remembered?  Few people will, if ever, achieve the status of Jackson, but all of us have impact while here.  And like Jackson, we have public and private faces.  We are amalgamations of our many selves.  We all have our moments of greatness, our moments of transgression, and we are all misunderstood at some level.

Michael Jackson seems to have been an extremely lonely person.  He seems to have been mystified by the mores of normal society.  He at once was energized and destroyed by his fame.  I think his death should encourage all of us to ask - how will I be remembered?  How can I spread peace, love, and joy through the world?  How can I touch the lives of others?