As many are mourning Princess Leia, I am mourning the grown up, bone-fide, bad-ass woman who that iconic bun headed dream girl of their childhood grew up to be; the raw, irreverent, inspiring, one of a kind powerhouse in Hollywood or anywhere else.
As a pop culture junkie I will now confess.
I never saw Star Wars.
Not once. No Empire Strikes Back, No Return of the Jedi. Nada. So I never fell in love with that Princess in a metal bikini. I never felt at home in a galaxy far, far away. What she spoke to for me was much closer to home.
Down to Earth
Carrie Fisher and her beloved service dog Gary
Carrie Fisher the actress, author, and screenwriter dedicated her powerful platform to very earthbound issues like mental health awareness and female empowerment. In her authentic voice she used her irreverent sense of humor to make biting and brilliant observations about ageism, sexism, fame and mental illness.
And Carrie was very down to earth when it came to being candid.
Speaking openly and frankly about her own issues with depression, bi-polar disorder, and addictions she was an unapologetic and unashamed voice for the mentally ill.
She taught us that fame was not a shield against demons.
As someone who has faced her own challenges, wrestling with my own formidable demons, Carrie Fisher has served as a muse, just as she has inspired countless others to raise their voices.
Changing minds by opening ours, she would deploy her sharp wit and sharper pen to change perceptions and remove stigmas that permeate our society.
Perhaps freed from the burdens of youth, Carrie Fisher’s brilliant mind seemed to blaze even brighter, more caustic and hilarious but always illuminating the truth.
The memory of this formidable woman is a reason and a reminder to keep up the fight.
As we move forward into the darkness of the coming years, her biting, insightful wit will be sorely missed. Carrie Fisher was a force to be reckoned with.
May her force be with us always.
Envisioning The American Dream 
inspiring
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Ditto…
Inspiring Sally.
My mother had a mental illness in the late 40s.
She never recovered.
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Mental illness was for way too long misunderstood and under and mistreated. The stigma of it could be as crippling as the disease itself. I am so sorry your mother had to suffer so.
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I think that’s the worst thing that can happen because in those days there was little cure for it. Stigmatizing these people was the way to deal with it.
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A true advocate and trooper for mental-health. For that as well as her cinematic talents, she will be sorely missed. ❤ 😥
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I thought of you and your history that you have shared. It is a real loss.
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Mmmm, you are so kind Sally. Thank you Ma’am. Yes, we need so many more outspoken mental-health advocates (like Carrie Fisher) in today’s complex societies, civilizations, and relational dynamics around the world, but especially here in the U.S. where crisis management is too often handled by lethal force or violence, and less empathy with clinical understanding and education. Carrie was not afraid to look inward and confront head-on the illness and disorders… showing the way… instead of adding to the common stigmatism and looking-reacting outwardly. Yes, we’ve lost a powerful voice and testimony. 😦
Thank you again Sally for your thoughtful kindness.
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The stigma and the shame enveloped the entire family and like a toxic overspill could remain for generations
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Thank you Professor Taboo for lending your formidable voice.
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I figured Carrie was on life-support, given the description of her episode in-flight, yet I was still shocked to learn of her passing. Such an unexpected death. I had just heard her interview with Terry Gross on NPR last month, which was replayed in part today, along with interviews from 1990 and 2004.
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I share your feelings. Despite hearing she was on life support etc. there seemed a bit of hope when it was reported she was out of critical care. It was a real blow. Particularly since she had been so present lately making the rounds of the talk shows etc. so she seemed so alive and vital and in our lives.
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Yes, I meant to mention exactly that — that she had been so present lately.
Additionally, I’ve not read one report of or statement by her mom. I know her health has not been good, but I expected to hear something from a representative of hers. Have I missed it?
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Yes, Debbie Reynolds issued a very poignant statement yesterday: “Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter. I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop. Love, carries Mother.” Now if that doesn’t bring you to tears….
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Brilliant again, Sally. No end to her courage and wisdom.
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Thank you. She drew on her own very tumultuous life as a road map for others.
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Thanks for this and all you do. Happy New Year to all! Hang on, just a few more earth revolutions…
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Thank you Lynn for your continues support and a very Happy New year to you as well. Only a few days left to this retched year, and now TMZ reports that Debbie Reynolds was hospitalized for a possible stroke.
2016 step away from Debbie Reynolds, I repeat step away from Debbie Reynolds!
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Her work as a script doctor and author of something like six books was no less important culturally than her role in the Star War series, and all the more amazing when one considers what she dealt with that could have destroyed her, even killed her before she made her mark.
Hers was a sad and tragic life elevated by her genuine talent in many fields.
That her mother died the next day is too much. I grew up in the 1950s when Debbie Reynolds was in her prime, and she was my favorite in any movie she appeared in. She was another genuinely talented singer, dancer, and actor.
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It was like the Princess I never had. I say it so many times, but I was Luke and Andrew was Han. Andrew was further in the future when it came to development and I suspect I subcounscialy, nay, not subsocounsially accepted that, but I knew it to be true.
So I became grounded in what it meant to be Luke and what for Andrew, it meant to be Han. We had girlfriends, but they were so fleeting, but they were still fun. And were probably more influential than we will ever know and I am not going to tell you, I may be drunk, but hey.
I can’t remember the years after the first movie, it is blur. Like the sixties, it was hedonistic, it was an Eden.
That’s why I keep on revisiting it, as I like to say, it Hold’s Worth.
I am sick of the clichés, this for me, is real.
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Shit, I didn’t know I was talking to a shrink.
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it’s too bad she died and then her mom. i feel bad for her child.
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