For the last 24 hours, the unexpected return of the band Linkin Park has been pretty much owning the algorithm. If you're not familiar, the band with all of the Gen-X anthems of the aughts, lost its singer in 2017 when he committed suicide. Last year they released some stuff from the vault, including a song called "Lost" that was pretty good. I remember thinking, you know, I've only bought a few singles, but their sound had a prominent place in music for a very long time. It kind of made me sad that we'd never get anything more. As it turns out, that isn't what happened.
Over the last few years, most of the rest of the band would from time to time hang out and write, and collaborate with a new female vocalist. Their drummer didn't want to do it anymore, so they found a new collaborator there, too. They weren't sure if any of this would work out, which is why they kept it secret, but then they unleashed it all last night, with a new album coming, some world tour dates, and a forthcoming US tour. They'll be playing arenas or larger again. They will be different, but the same, if that makes sense. They'll continue. If their live stream is any indication, they're going to have a lot of fun.
I admire what they're doing. I've lost friends to suicide, and you can't really rationalize it, and you definitely can't dwell on the idea that you could have prevented it. It sucks, because their heads were in such a terrible place that they couldn't see any way to continue. The rest of us are left with the task of continuing without them, which is difficult in its own way. This band, they found joy in their music, and decided that they could respect the legacy, while continuing on.
That feels like something we should all think about. Life is difficult. Some people experience more friction than others, and it's rarely as simple as choosing not to have the friction. Mental health, physical health, discrimination, financial stress, careers, parenting, relationships... life comes with a lot of pain. I'll be the first to admit that I find myself wallowing in the worst of it sometimes. As I said, it's not really something you can choose to avoid. What we can do, what we must do, is figure out how to continue. It often takes time, but as I get older, I feel like there's less time to get to the point of continuation. Suddenly it seems that the healthy part of working through your shit has to happen faster.
I have never thought about suicide, which statistically is more rare than I expected (depending on which studies you read and which cohorts they include). For me, maybe I've had it easy, because continuing is the only option I've ever considered. I wish that were the case for everyone. So maybe we just need reminders now and then. Things can't suck all of the time, and if it feels like they do, we need to know that it's OK to ask for help.
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