Wise Words From Wilder

SF Sketchfest hosted a "Salute to Gene Wilder" tonight at the Castro. They showed Young Frankenstein (FRONK-en-STEEN!) and Gene came out afterwards for an onstage conversation/Q&A session.

It was pretty great. He talked about his career, the people he's worked with, though the one thing he said that really stuck with me was not about acting or comedy. He was talking about how he was a cancer survivor and how he goes to a reunion every October for people who have had stem cell transplants, and just how amazing it was to see everyone and how happy they were to be alive.

Basically, he said, you see that and you think how silly it is to worry about the little things. Don't be morose, don't hold back love -- life is too short.

That definitely is my MO and I just enjoy it when others articulate it as well. Richard Dawkins said something similar when I saw him lecture at Berkeley a couple weeks ago. It can be so easy to get caught up in the daily grind... work, bills, etc. But if you just stop and think about how absolutely amazing it is just to be alive...

I realize of course you can't be happy all the time. That's impossible. But you know what the Monty Python boys say, right?