I was asked today, "How famous do you want to be?"
How does one answer that? Those of fame and fortune in the spotlight stumble and fall only to have the wolves crawl over their bodies picking their bones clean. That isn't fame. Perhaps fame, but not success. Fame is then what, the praise of man? Recognition on the street or in a mall? Fame is not to be desired, fame is the elevator that when entered, ascends to a certain height, to snap and plummet. Why would anyone want to be famous? Bono said once, "There must be something wrong if a person needs a stadium full of people yelling their name to feel loved and alive."
Hopes and dreams are fickle threads that catch fire. No matter how resolved, how determined a person is, the casting down, shredding, cynicism, jealousy, and plain old being a dick sets flame to dreams. Like those high school jocks destroying our dream to play music. The mere mentioning of something above working at a fast food chain brings ridicule and distain.
People hate to see others succeed. Why should someone climb out of the swamp when the rest of the snakes and toads are stuck in the mud. If we escape it is because we are stronger, more persistent, and thankfully have been able to develop a resolve when others have merely dissolved. A town is drenched in a aura of damnation for no one can ever rise above the prejudices and norms that have been established throughout the past decades. Generations of alcoholics, drug abuse, and selfish consumerism locked the gate and barred the escape.
The secret to life is not fame. Fame can be taken away, fame is squandered by the fickle and the weak.
Success. Success is the key to unlock any door, any gate, any obstacle that stands in the way of further achievements. Success does not mean a stuffed bank account or a garage full of Bugattis. No, success comes from within. Success in and of itself is what drives you to see the vivid visualization of your dreams become a tangible thing you can hold in your hands or behold with your eyes. As success expands, the very desire of pursuit will lead to action. Revolutions will not just be started from war rooms, but in high school English classes, the playground, a library, a college dorm room, the office cubicle of an accountant who doesn't want to balance numbers for someone else.
Examine your life. What are you doing? What do you want to do? Why aren't you doing it now?
The gate was locked to me for so long. People shut doors and locked me in. Unique ideas were not wanted. The standardization of school meant that we were trained and reprogrammed to be robots. Imagination. Remember that? I bet very few of us do. Creation, imagination, and expression were done away with. Everyone loves reading these stories about dystopia societies. Open your eyes, we are living in one.
So what do we do? How do we escape the grey and find a place to build?
Keep fighting. Don't give up on yourself. YOU have the power to create anything. Whatever vision or image you see in your head of what you want to be or what you want to exist, hold onto it, cling to it when those forces of oppression come knocking. Don't give up on your dreams. Let them be the fuel that burns within you, motivating you, guiding you, inspiring you, and encouraging you to do better.
The feeling of breaking water and taking the first breath after so long below the surface is so close. If you haven't enjoyed it yet, don't give up. Never give up. Keep chasing that horizon. Build, create, inspire, develop, design, write, paint, sculpt, let whatever inside of you become the reality you always wanted.
Don't ever settle for anything other than what you've always wanted.
TSR
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