Song to Save Our Sanity #2: Beat It!

Yesterday, as we all know, marked the passing of a great star.

What a lot of people don't know, however, is that yesterday was also the passing of a fellow fighter.

Before I launch into anything else,

R.I.P. Michael Jackson.

(Having grown up mostly in the post-Michael Jackson era, I wasn't really a big fan of his, but I do regard him as the King of Pop. His dance moves will always be unrivaled.)

I found an article today--and I'm not saying it's 100% credible; in my opinion, the source is kind of sketchy, but if you look at some of MJ's photos of late, you'll notice that under all those billowing shirts, he is thin--that Michael Jackson struggled with anorexia nervosa up until his death. Stress and the pressure to oudo himself at fifty performances definitely contributed, although he was trying very hard to remain strong.

I won't say too much as to not spoil the article, but being an ED-sufferer, I do know dealing with an eating disorder on top of outside pressure can really break you. I don't know about you, but I cracked under the pressure of just 5 subject-finals. Imagine having to perform 50 shows, all top-quality, on top of his damaged reputation and legendary status, as well as lupus and vitiligo. I know for a fact that I wouldn't have made it.

Michael Jackson, I respect you for fighting so hard. Knowing him (which I don't, but I can speculate), he probably wouldn't have let go no matter how sick he was. In the entertainer world, "The show must go on" can sometimes turn into a brutal tongue-lash.

I have mixed feelings right now about whether or not he made the right decision to continue wiht his tours. It wouldn't have hurt to take just a short break, would it? Then again, I don't know too much about what life is like in the show world.

I have no idea what his experience with anorexia was, and whether or not it contributed to his death (although many cases of anorexia do lead to eventual cardiac arrest and kidney failure), and I don't know whether or not he tried to recover, but I'm hoping he did. I'm hoping he did what would've been a good example for all of us. If you ask me if he was pro-recovery or even a blogger like me with a pseudonym, I'll have to admit I don't know. But I hope that he was.

In the case that he was, we can't let him down!

Kick your eating disorder in the balls. BEAT IT!