I think I get it (6/4/14)

When I was at Barnes & Noble doing some logistics work for the book tour the other day I think I finally understood why celebrities are so standoffish. I spent 45 minutes trying to get some information from the manager in charge of booking special events. She spent the time telling me how difficult what I wanted to do was, and not to get my hopes up. She told me she didn’t want to discourage me, but everything she said was to that end.

That has been the common thread I have seen since I began this journey. “Who are you, and what makes you think you can do this?” No one wants to take a leap of faith or go out on a limb, but that’s okay.

This journey is a right of passage, and every successful person has to walk this road.

What I now believe is that celebrities all walked this road, and became jaded as a result of the process. They may have started out as optimistic and positive, and they slowly became cold and withdrawn. They persevered in spite of what they were told and eventually became celebrities. Now that they are seen as a symbol of success everyone wants a piece of them. They are currently no different than they were before they became the icon that people bow down to worship, and that’s the problem. People wanted nothing to do with them when they needed help, and now that they’ve made it to the top people act like they are best buds. I don’t think it’s entirely a question of signing autographs, taking pictures, or being interrupted at dinner that bothers celebrities. No, I think it’s the hypocrisy of the process, and the inability to be seen for what they truly are that creates the persona that gets played out on TV. They’re just people, and every once in a while I think they just want to be treated that way. I think they want to know that they are more than some object that the world is trying to get a piece of.