In the Shadow of Greatness

I was pondering something lately and, as a ponder, it was an admittedly silly ponder but ponder about this silly matter I nonetheless did ponder. 

The ponder was about Anthony Bourdain, the late writer/broadcaster about food and travel who died by his own hand in 2018. He went from being a line chef to a celebrity due to his brilliant writings and TV shows that observed the world around us and what we eat. He became acclaimed and famous for making us look at and understand our world better -- and making it more delicious.

Oh, yes, and he was my neighbor -- something I've blogged about more than a few times before. 

Bourdain is still remembered and celebrated almost a decade after his death -- now with a movie about his life set to debut this this year -- which is something few us will ever get. 

He achieved, in a word, greatness -- and yours truly lived in the shadow of his greatness. 

This blog has always been my attempt to understand NYC better and to share my observations about it to the world. But I never will achieve the greatness that Bourdain did although I think I've also contributed something of value to the culture too.

And as once-neighbor, in a way, we share a certain past -- although he went on to greatness and I have spent my time laboring in the shadows.

In 'udder words, if Anthony Bourdain was ...

... Bob Dylan, I'm Llewyn Davis. If

... Mozart, I'm Salieri.

... Jesus, I'm Brian.

But greatness is not, should not, be the purpose of life. Greatness finds people -- like it did Anthony Bourdain. However, we should all try to contribute what we can, when we can, where and how we can. And I've done that! Maybe my contributions are in the shadows but they're not totally in the dark.