Anna Nicole, a few thoughts...

One belief I hold dear these days is that each of us is born with qualities, talents and inborn traits that are meant to serve a purpose. Each life is important, no matter what it looks like. Anna Nicole Smith's life is no exception.

It's very difficult for us to be interested in lives that are bland, flat, monotonous and uneventful. We are increasingly a society that needs constant stimulation... mental, physical, emotional, intellectual. How often do we hear someone say "been there, done that" as if doing something more than once is a waste of time? How often have we heard "same old, same old" as the reply to the query "how are you"? We want everything faster, improved , bigger and better.

The same is true of our celebrities... the more outrageous they are, the more we clamor for more. Gone are the days of the slow seduction, the sideways glance or the subtle art of innuendo. Gone are the long, leisurely kisses, the slow unfolding of a love story. Now we want blatant displays of flesh and blunt sexual language, we want wardrobe malfunctions and starlets going "commando" as they exit a car. We love to see celebrities get paired up, but we're never surprised when it doesn't last. It seems as if we are in part, co-creators of the falling standards so prevalent in our times.

And so I tend to see Anna Nicole Smith as a woman who gave us what we wanted.

Did it serve her well?

Did it serve us well?

She couldn't have attained her celebrity status without us supporting it.

I see us as one humanity, and when one falls or suffers, it affects all of us. It might harden our hearts or add another brick to the walls we've built. It might add another layer to the armor we wear, it might carve new places for cynicism inside us. It might dull our sensitivities or sharpen our edges. Whatever it may be, when someone falls or suffers, we all share in it. We share in the cause and the effect. There no use in pointing fingers.

It's sad. It's sad for a baby who will never know her mother. But what saddens me more is to see how we treat each other.... how we (myself included) are entertained by the misfortunes of others. Even as I write this I know I'll read the next article I see on Anna Nicole in the paper.

I wonder why we are this way?