Lately, it has come to my attention that people seem to get some sort of otherworldly satisfaction from discrediting the death of famous individuals. They seem to do this because so much emphasis is placed on and so much mourning follows these events and so little is placed on the tens of thousands of others that die every day.

The thing is, people are famous for a reason just as popular music is so aptly named. Those who reach some form of fame do so because a chord is struck with the masses. We are the ones who make them famous. We are the audience who buy the tickets to see their performances or the users who stand in line to purchase gadgets that they’ve created. We are the masses and together we weep when these individuals perish because they have touched our lives in some shape or form that sometimes we can’t even explain.

Just because so many are shedding tears over these well-known individuals, it doesn’t mean the countless others who leave this life every day aren’t mourned or are any less important.

What it all comes down to is that death is death.

No one death is more special or significant than the other.

It’s what was done by the deceased in life that matters.

The more impact you have on this planet, the more widely celebrated your life becomes and the more you’re missed when you pass.

So please, don’t try to make people feel guilty for who they do and do not mourn.

Mourning is not a choice.

It’s a feeling, and an unavoidable one at that.

After all, you wouldn’t make someone feel guilty for who they love, would you?

Oh, wait.

Tagged: apple, dan wheldon, death, indycar, mourning, steve jobs