30 Things in 30 Years: Remember
In this time of overnight success and being a baller and Facebook famous and all that, many think that there’s all there is. Many of us will get discouraged when we look at our lives in comparison to other people’s lives. This reminds me of how important it is to be reminded, to remember. (I actually feel my next series being born as we speak) For one, when it comes to recognition, we equate acknowledgement to validation. So many of us aspire to be “famous,” to be remembered, but do we remember who we are?
What is fame? On the surface, fame is a widespread reputation; popular. People like me. They like what I'm doing or have to offer. I am somebody because a lot of people say so. But conversely, fame tells us that if a lot of people have not told me my work is good, or I dance well, or I am pretty, or what I am working hard on is great, then it isn't. Fame says that if it hasn’t happened yet, it won’t happen; the it is fame.
Fame is not the same as success. Fame is addictive-- a drug, a byproduct of our work and people's consumption of it. I once read that we think of it as the “How am I doing?” syndrome. We gauge our work, our looks, our self-worth on other people’s approval or “success.” It seems that we constantly are asking, “How does it look to them?”
We ask ourselves the wrong questions. We ask ourselves the wrong questions and get the wrong answers.
Learn to approve of ourselves. Do not define your own creativity in terms of someone else’s. Fame is a shortcut for self-approval. Many times it’s very easy to get caught up in image and ideals that we forget our true self. We may dwell on what or who is there or not there, but we cannot lose sight of exactly who we are. Always remember...
JustDream
