When I learned last week about the passing of Anthony Bourdain, I felt the world had grown a little more distant, a little less magical.
I don’t typically comment on the passing of celebrities, but Bourdain was a hero of mine. For years I watched as he visited strange new lands, tried exotic new foods, met interesting new people and lived life to the fullest.
While I certainly enjoy a good meal, I seldom watched Bourdain’s shows because of the food. He was a celebrated chef and programs like “No Reservations” and “Parts Unknown” frequently leaned on that expertise to guide the narrative, but I felt his shows were less about the food and more about getting out there and “sampling” everything life has to offer.
He was also a magnificent wordsmith, able to transport his viewers, readers and listeners all over the world with little more than a string of carefully constructed sentences. Much like the food he loved so much, his ingredients were typically simple but so, so effective.
As a journalist, what really drew me to Bourdain was his hunger for stories. If someone was cooking a meal, he wanted to know where the ingredients came from, who grew them, how they grew them, what that person’s life was like and more. He sought answers out of a genuine personal curiosity and we were lucky enough to take part in those stories because he had an equally insatiable appetite to share with others.
If life was a buffet, Anthony Bourdain wasn’t just the kind of person who would sample everything; he’d go back for another helping if he wasn’t completely satisfied. And while waiting in line to fill his plate all over again, he’d make conversation with the guy in front of him as well as the folks stocking the platters. Simply put, he consumed everything he could get his hands on.
Bourdain shared a lot of wisdom over the years, but one of my favorite quotes is as follows: “Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.”
I find that to be a beautiful, bittersweet way of looking at life.
It’s easy to romanticize getting out and experiencing the world, but it’s also important to understand that all of that beauty, excitement and joy is frequently accompanied by sorrow, loss and pain.
I read it as Bourdain’s personal take on “this too shall pass,” a message reminding folks that you have to take the good with the bad and that, no matter which one you’re currently being served, the important thing is that you clean your plate and get ready for the next course.
Bourdain wrote about leaving marks on the world and on each other. I hope we all strive to make those marks the beautiful kind.
