The myth of the perfect life

Until this week I had never heard of Kate Spade. Tragically, this past week she died by suicide, which has attracted much grief and analysis. I thought a commentary in the Guardian was interesting and sad:

So many women have been sharing stories online about their first Kate Spade handbag, like music fans reminiscing about the first time they heard a song by a recently deceased singer – and that is how it should be. She was a part of our lives and part of the cultural landscape for a generation. She made us feel that the perfect life was eminently achievable. How devastating to learn it felt exactly the opposite to her.