but when a celebrity succumbs to addiction and dies it’s sad but definitely not heroic. We have this way of trying to make such people into heroes but that’s just whitewash by a media that fed on these people during their lives and needs to find a way to feed on them after they’re gone.
Talented? Yes. Tragic? Yes. Heroic? No. Elvis died on his bathroom floor with his pants around his ankles. Amy Winehouse stopped her own heart with a mixture of street chemicals yet to be determined. There’s nothing romantic or heroic about any of it. It’s just sad, a waste, and we don’t want to face that so we pretend otherwise.
Do you know what is heroic? It’s the person calling their AA sponsor right now because they’re struggling with their addiction but they love their kids so much they’ll do whatever it takes to fight for a day of sobriety. It’s the person praying their heart out to keep from going out on the streets because they know the hell that waits them and have no desire to go back. Those, and others like them, are the heroes. The rest are just celebrities whose lives got messed up in the spotlight.
The Beautiful Path 
Amen, amen, and amen. You are right on with your insights.
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Amen. My best friend died of an overdose. It was such as waste of a wonderful human being. He was most heroic when he was sober, not when he was giving up. Lord have mercy on them all.
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