When should Robin Williams’ day be?
because we could all use an excuse to be silly, extra kind, and do what we can to make the world a little bit better in his honor
ON MONDAY
“Robin Williams died.”
I first heard a whisper that he had died during a meeting about the safety, and future of our town’s crumbling elementary school. I didn’t want to believe it.
Later that night I read touching personal recollections from people all over the world. I waded through the glib and shallow “sad clown” commentary and #ButDoctorIamPagliacci posts and found that most people just wanted to reflect and share about the impact he had on their lives.
My own memories were a little foggy, and I wanted to reacquaint myself with him. I watched a few clips that people had posted. I wanted more. Soon I found an hour and half video of him on Inside the Actor’s Studio. It was late and I wanted to enjoy it, so I e-mailed myself a link and watched a short clip of him on tour with the USO, and then went to sleep.
ON TUESDAY
“Can you believe it?”
At work, people were still in shock. No one said all that much beyond their surprise and sadness.
I watched the Inside the Actors Studio show. His agent said that it was one of Robin Williams’ best performances.
It really is a masterpiece. (Even if you don’t care for James Lipton).
You should watch the whole thing when you get a chance.
ON WEDNESDAY
“A-O-Pa?”
My filter only just barely stopped it from escaping. I didn’t think my co-workers would get the reference to Williams’ kind-hearted mocking of the somewhat pretentious Lipton.
I’ve been filtering a lot of silly impulses. As a side effect of soaking in all these old video clips, I’ve been cultivating my inner Robin Williams. It’s getting harder to keep him suppressed.
Bernie Sanders tweeted and brought up the importance of mental health.
Apple put up a page with a stunning picture and some nice words:
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robin Williams. He inspired us through his passion, his generosity, and the gift of laughter. He will be greatly missed.
Some jerks used twitter to say horrible things to his daughter, Zelda.
Still others cast about heaping blame upon alcohol, drugs, stress, money problems, ex-wives, and Robin himself.
I much preferred to peruse inspiring RW pictures and gifs like these:
ON THURSDAY
“So it could be a cross between ‘Talk like a pirate day’ and ‘No-shave November’?”
No one asked Why. They got it right away. It made sense. It fit in pefectly with the successful concepts of “no-shave november” to support awareness of testicular cancer, and the “ice-bucket challenge” for ALS.
But When should it be, and What would people do on that day?
WHEN?
No dates or numbers immediately came to mind.
We played with the idea of turning “Na-nu Na-nu” into Nine-Nine or 9/9, which seemed to have the right timing, but the connection was pretty weak and seemed to be too much of a stretch.
He was born on July 21st, but that’s too far away. No one I spoke with thought that waiting that long made sense. His first television debut was as Mork on Season 5 of Happy Days, but that happened in February, which while closer, still seems too far away.
Then we found out that the first episode of Mork and Mindy, Robin’s breakout role, aired on September 14th. Perfect. Not too far away, and enough time to spread the word and make something meaningful.
September 14th.
WHAT?
There was no shortage of ideas. Robin’s characters and life provides myriad muses for creativity. He was a great comedian. And he was a powerful dramatic actor.
It was hard to decide between something funny and serious.
Do we have to decide? Does it have to be one thing in the model of planking, the harlem shake, or the ice-bucket challenge?
I don’t think so. I don’t think it would do his memory justice if we had to pick one specific aspect of his life or work.
Maybe what people should do on Robin Williams day is whatever feels right to them. It should be a day about tapping into your creativity, taking the filter off, and honoring this man in a crazy and diverse array of actions.
Maybe that’s it. I’ll sleep on it.
ON FRIDAY
“I wonder what I’m going to do on Robin Williams Day”
I’ll be celebrating it on September 14th. I don’t know if anyone else will.
I’m thinking about doing a few things:
Standing on my desk seems like fun. I wonder if I’ll be the only one. I wonder how many others would join in. I wonder how I could get a video of it.
I’d love to call a friend I haven’t spoken to in a while and reconnect. It would be nice to catch-up a little bit.
I may participate in a drive by fruiting. Kumquats might work well.
I think I’ll look into mental health groups. I’ve heard good things about NAMI but I want to do some more reading up on things first.
I know I’ll do a few things for sure:
I’ll call my dad.
I’ll act like a silly nut with my daughters.
I’ll think about how grateful I am for everything.
ON SEPTEMBER 14th, 2014
“It’s Robin Williams day”
What will you do?
TL;DR This Sept 14th — the date the first Mork and Mindy show aired — I’m having fun with ideas on how I can honor Robin Williams. Whether just being silly, or raising funds and awareness about Parkinsons and mental health issues. This could be a very fitting tribute to what this man meant for so many people. If you agree, help spread the word. You’re probably better at the internets then I am, and can come up with way better hashtags than #RobinWilliamsDay or #NaNuNaNu