Life is a Thriller

The whole world is reeling with news of the deaths of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon. It is too much loss for one week, one day. And so the planet comes together to mourn and, hopefully, get the message for real this time: life is short.

Whenever we experience the loss of a public figure we are marked by time. We remember the moment we heard the news, float back in time to the many memories that were created through experiencing the celebrity's popularity. Chances are you can remember who your friends were when Charlie's Angels premiered, the car you had when you first heard 'Thriller' and knew your mom would insist you head to bed when you heard "Heerrreee's Johnny!"

So we grieve for the loss of these so-very-public lives of people we never really knew, but we really mourn for the loss of the times, places and people who helped make us who we are today. That's natural and normal.

What matters now is how you use the experience as you move forward.