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Jonas Never’s mural of Anthony Bourdain in Santa Monica, California. Credit: Getty Images

Anthony Bourdain, the host of CNN’s award-winning travel and food show Parts Unknown, died on June 8, 2018, at 61, according to several press reports. A bestselling author, chef, and entrepreneur, Bourdain apparently committed suicide.

“It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain,” CNN said in a statement. “His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time.”

Born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, Bourdain’s last episode of “No Reservations” took viewers somewhere that was much closer to home than most of his travels, a place the career nomad says he had “never really gotten to know”:

Brooklyn.

Bourdain concluded the series with one of his trademark epilogues:

It’s been a wild ride.

A lot of miles. A road sometimes smooth, sometimes hard and ugly.

And I guess I could tell you that if you look hard enough, that just next door is just as interesting as the other side of the world.

But … That’s not exactly true.

If I do have any advice for anybody, any final thought, if I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move.

As far as you can, as much as you can.

Across the ocean, or simply across the river.

The extent to which you can walk in somebody else’s shoes–or at least eat their food–it’s a plus for everybody.

Open your mind. Get up off the couch. Move.

“Words to live by” wrote Justin Bariso. And evidently, words to die with. Who can know the inner turmoil that emptied Bourdain of hopefulness and life force so that he would end his own? Surely he would want the empathy and compassion that he invited in his fans.

Bariso continues:

“Of course, Bourdain wasn’t talking only about picking up and moving to another country (although speaking from experience, if you can, you should). It’s the travel, the experience of another culture–for a few weeks, or even a few days, that helps us to learn empathy and compassion in a way you simply can’t get in other ways.

What if you can’t afford to travel abroad?

Go wherever you can. Try watching a film or program from another country. Take advantage of anything you can find from and about those who are different from you.

Along the way, you’ll discover a single, remarkable truth about diversity:

Yes, it’s the differences that make life most interesting. And yet, in the end, it’s amazing how much we all share in common.”

From: Justin Bariso, Founder, Insight@JustinJBaris

Open Your Mind?

There is irony that in this age of information a person can still find oneself in an echo chamber – unless you do something deliberate to listen to other points of view.

So cross the ocean, cross the river, or cross the street to listen to your neighbour, to learn about other ways of viewing the world and the issues of the day. Listening is the first step to understanding – a prerequisite to entering any honest dialogue.

Thus I find myself writing “more enigma than dogma” against the current of the dogmas of our age. They often appear in group think or as political correctness disguised as the accepted norm of common sense, but dogmas left unchallenged are ideas left undiscerned.

What Deliberate thing will you do to open Your mind?

An ancient text may give us insight:

Do not be squeezed into the mould of this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…

For more see “Minds without Borders.”