Christopher Hitchens

On this day 2 years ago I cried.  It was the 2nd time that I can remember crying over the death of someone that I didn’t know.  The first was George Harrison.

Christopher Hitchens passed away from complications due to esophageal cancer, the very same fate that his father had suffered.  

I can’t say why I cried when George Harrison died, but I did.  I can say why I cried when Christopher Hitchens died.  I cried because we lost one of the greatest communicators ever.  We lost a tireless fighter who always fought against the unjust, unthinking, and unsure.  We lost one of the greatest debaters ever.  We lost someone with unending wit and humor.

While he was extraordinary at convincing people what to think, he did more than that for me.  He taught me how to think.  He taught me that it was critical to examine everything carefully; to filter every source of information.  He taught me to never be satisfied with less, ever.  He taught me.

Because of Hitchens, and later a few others, I am an athiest, a contrarian, an avid reader, and politically informed.  I’m a better father, husband and citizen because of him.  

I don’t believe in heros, but if I did, Hitchens would be one of mine.

Christopher Eric Hitchens

b. 13 April 1949

d. 15 December 2011

If you are interested more in Christopher, start with these YouTube links and go from there.

Update

I have gone a whole month without buying anything for myself on the internet.  I haven’t gone back and looked but it’s possible that I haven’t done that since 2006 or 2007.  I thought initially that it would be really hard and that I’d slip up and have to confess, but it hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be.  I imagine there will be times where it will be harder, but overall changing my mindset was fairly easy.

I’ve had one time that I can remember where I considered making a purchase.  My laptop (macbook from 2007) battery wasn’t charging correctly a few days ago and my mind turned immediately to wanting to purchase a chromebook online, but that passed within 15 or 20 minutes.  I was able to get my computer charging and all is well again and I’ve avoided spending 300 dollars.  I’m not sure if I would have bought a laptop out of impulse before, but I know I’m not going to now, which is clear progress I think.

Reading has become a good distraction for purchasing for me as well.  I’ve been to the library twice in the past few weeks.  I am an avid reader already, but I have really stepped up my frequency in November.  I put behind me several non-fiction books already (Parent Effectiveness Training, Your Money or Your Life, and a quarter of the 1000 page Arguably, Essays by Chrisopher Hitchens) and fiction (Breakfast at Tiffany’s and half of Lolita).

I feel like this kind of acts like a substitute in a way for buying.  It allows me to browse and find interesting things and bring them home much like I would on Amazon, but then I’m able to return them and also fill my mind with interesting ideas, situations, and characters.  I’ll keep updating the situation as I go. Hopefully I can make it through the holidays, though I will be purchasing a few presents for others via Amazon.  I’ll just be staying away from throwing things for myself in the shopping cart.