There are so many tributes to David Bowie, and every one of them is well deserved. It is strange to feel a kinship to a celebrity that you have never met before. We didn't know them personally, yet we mourn and the pain is very real. I don't think we should apologize for being sad when one of these greats leave this world because they impacted our lives in some way. Their music got us through rough times, first loves, and breakups. Their movies are something we go back to over and over again like visiting an old friend.
Everyone knows the history of the artist David Bowie and his career can be summoned up with one word. Universe. That word is wide, every changing, and beautiful. It fills us with hope, inspires something in us something that we didn't know we had in us, and makes us connect with our fellow man. He changed often, pushed people to their limits, and created beauty and joy. His impact and career is as vast as the universe and will be carried in the stars for generations to come.
My love for David Bowie started very early on in my life. He was the Goblin King in "Labyrinth" which of course I watched a million times being a Jim Henson fan as well. I loved the story and the beautiful music. I still sing the songs, I still look for my friends because every once in awhile, for no reason, I need them. I'm pretty sure David Bowie's Jareth is one of the reasons I developed a lifelong attraction to men older than me. I was rooting for Sarah to forget about her brother and spend her life with the Goblin King.
I am a huge Beatles fan so David Bowie was everywhere musically when I was a child. I heard things he did with John Lennon on live stage recordings and of course, "Changes." It lead me to his albums and I started to collect them on vinyl. It took me until college to complete my collection and sadly I lost them all during a flood. It really broke my heart because it wasn't just losing records, it was losing art. There was something about those wild, strange, and sometimes very simple covers that hide the musical beast behind them.
I had books about him, classic rock and roll photos, and I would catch him on TV any time that I could. I was a fan. I dressed up as Ziggy Stardust during several Halloween's growing up, and into adulthood. It's hard to write the impact that his art had on my life because it gets so very personal. There are hundreds of stories, and so many memories that I can attach to David Bowie. This is why his loss is so personal even though I never knew him. Even though none of us knew him, his impact was very real.
David Bowie left this plane of existence and is now everywhere. The stars do seem different somehow. I hope someday that his music, and stories will do for someone else what they did for me. I have a pretty good feeling that could just happen.
