Thursday, May 16, 2013

Staying anonymous (#1567)

When I was younger I was thrilled to see people get attention for their accomplishments and one day I had hoped to be one of them as well. As time has gone on and I have gotten older, I find that having all that attention is not some fairy tale occurrence where nothing but great things come of it. On the contrary, even doing the little things in life are susceptible to scrutiny by those who have built a cottage industry off of examining the fame of many. I think about Angelina Jolie and her decision to be proactive with her own health concerns and the backlash that has exposed. To me it is remarkable that a person who wishes to extend their life through the available science humankind has to offer should be the normal, not the abnormal. In Jolie's case a simple decision that has been made and acted upon should just be a footnote in time, not a firestorm that perversely attacks her. Her not being anonymous is the end product of why this happened to her. She did choose to become an actress and then advocate for the rights of desperate children, and as such is not exempt to our current obsession with celebrity. However, surely fame does not give her that exciting feeling I talked about when I was young. On the contrary, fame has left her squeezed into an existence that doesn't allow the good nature within her to openly move about among us and to me, that is our loss. For myself, I have not nor will I attain fame for it's unenlightened allure, because I now know that being special comes from within not through being idol worshipped. Now the random acts of selflessness that I do achieve, are left only for me to know and for that I am not only grateful but a better person for it.

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