photo:Yves Klein: Leap Into the Void, 1960

i find it fascinating, though not surprising, when millionaires and billionaires start throwing themselves out of windows and in front of trains after losing their fortunes in times of financial crisis. i would think that if a person has the ability, the drive, and the vision to achieve such success, that they would apply those same traits to their new situation. but to actually take your own life because of the loss of money or status is bizarre to me, if not a little pathetic.
is it embarrassment? is it the fear of living without an expected level of comfort? is it shame for the way in which the success might have been gained? is it guilt for those whose lives were also affected by those actions? is it the "seeming" loss of power and freedom? or is it the stark realization of being forced to face who and what one really is when everything else is stripped away? perhaps that presentation of self, or lack of, is what takes them to the ledge. i certainly don't know. but i'd like to think that if i were in their shoes. i would instead, take a leap into the void and soar into the discoveries that this new life would present.