And very few people survive the death of a beloved child or spouse and write best-selling books about it, as Joan Didion did. Didion, of course, was a famous author before her 2 books dealing with the loss of her daughter and of her husband. The losses did not make her great. She is a great writer and writes about all her experiences in a beautiful, universal way.

Adele is talented, and no matter what subject she chooses, she succeeds and excels. If there had been no bad boyfriend, she would have composed other music that would have won awards. In fact, the ex-boyfriend may have held her back from being a star earlier: depression, contrary to myth, does not enhance creativity.

Talented people draw from their life experiences, whatever those experiences were. Alcoholics, adults who were abused as children, etc. may create something wonderful from their tragic experiences. But let's not give any credit to the drink or the abuser.

Let's applaud those rare, talented people who can turn lemon into lemonade and touch others with their accomplishments. They deserve all the credit. All of it.