Chester Bennington

Chester Bennington frontman for Linkin Park has passed. Possibly by his own hand. He was 41 years old. New York Times write up about Mr. Bennington.  

I have seen depression. I have been right next to it, up close & personal. It was thick – like a third presence or person in the room. You could feel it. It blanketed any possible light. It was not redirectable. It didn’t care if you reminded it of all the good things in front of it; of the good things it had. It simply wanted out.

And it got out.

But it missed so much in the process ~ children growing older, being there as a force in their lives as they have grown, being a partner to a widow/widower, it missed friendships, it missed the possibility of joy, and it missed the simple fact that the world is now a dimmer place for their light no longer being a part of it.

We all have storms. We all have seasons. It does not matter who you are.  If you are feeling that the storm is too much, that the season is too long, please, talk to someone about it. You do not have to carry all that weight upon your shoulders. Find someone and talk. There is another side to this. If you don’t know who to talk to please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Call. The world needs your light and seasons do change.  

Aaron Swartz

One of the brightest minds of his generation, Aaron Swartz died on January 11, 2013.  He was an internet activist, innovator, hacker, co-creator of the RSS Feed and co-owner of Reddit.  He fought for open & free access for educational journals and against SOPA/PIPA.  It is not an exaggeration to say that he had a hand in what we know the internet is and in what the internet will become.  He died by his own hand at the age of 26.     

“...Why?”

I cannot answer that for Mr. Swartz, whom I never met or communicated with, nor can I answer for friends who have made similar decisions.  I simply do not know.  I read about it on the morning of January 12^th, on Twitter.  It was harrowing to see people who knew and loved him discover the news.  I follow a lot of tech geeks and one after the other just kept rolling how shocked by the news they were.  My heartfelt thoughts and prayers for his family and friends left behind. 

Here is CNN’s article on Mr. Swartz: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/12/us/new-york-reddit-founder-suicide/index.html.  Here is what Mr. Cory Doctorow wrote for Boing Boing: http://boingboing.net/2013/01/12/rip-aaron-swartz.html.  Here is what Wikipedia (Mr. Swartz was an editor here too) has to say: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz.  Here is what Chris Hayes from MSNBC had to say on his program, “UP w/ Chris Hayes’ (and I highly recommend viewing the segment concerning Mr. Swartz): http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/13/the-brilliant-mind-righteous-heart-of-aaron-swartz-will-be-missed/.  

Mr. Swartz was in trouble for downloading free educational journals from MIT.  Let me say that once more, he downloaded FREE educational journals.  Further, he never uploaded them anywhere.  Two days before he committed suicide he was told that he might be looking at 35 years behind bars.  To quote from Mr. Hayes’ brilliant summation, “…You should know his death is a good reason to revisit the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the law under which he was prosecuted, since it is far too broad, and to take a hard look at Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, whose office prosecuted Aaron with such recklessly disproportionate vigor, and who is reportedly considering a run for governor.

You should know that we’re going to miss you, Aaron. We’re going to miss your brilliant mind, your righteous heart and your sensitive soul.”

I have seen the face of depression but I do not suffer from it.  I have seen it twist people’s lives and minds.  I cannot pretend to understand what someone with severe depression is going through but I can encourage positive action.  I can say if you feel that the world would be better off without you, please think again.  Please find someone to talk to.  You are not alone – you don’t have to be.  Your local church is a good option but here is one place that is available at any time: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.  From their site, “No matter what problems you are dealing with, we want to help you find a reason to keep living. By calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255) you’ll be connected to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area, anytime 24/7.”  Please, find someone to talk to.  The fact of the matter is we need as many brilliant minds, righteous hearts, and sensitive souls as we can find these days.

If you happen to be an academic and have published research papers one of the ways that people are honoring Mr. Swartz’ memory is by uploading it to the net completely open & free and attaching the following hash tag: #pdftribute – go on, do a Twitter search and you’ll see what I mean.