RSS

Fame Monster

I do not like the man who squanders his life for fame; give me the man who living makes a name. –Emily Dickinson

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in Atlanta who's not an "aspiring" anything. I don't want to model, sing, rap, or be in entertainment. If you've been here for any period of time, then I'm sure you've encountered the "hyphens". You know the ones… I'm a teacher but really I rap. Or I work at Bebe but really, I'm a model. Girl….. And the worst are the ones that don't even have a hyphen to put in front of that entertainment career because they don't have a job.

I'm not in the "circle" and the only thing I'm "aspiring" to do is climb the career ladder in my field. I have never had a desire to be in the entertainment lifestyle living life in the spotlight. Sure the money would be nice, but only in the sense that it would provide the freedom to live my life on my terms. True talent and success sometimes produces fame as a by-product but it should not be chased the other way around. I think people that chase fame lack something within. I do not need the adoration or all too often the scrutiny, of others to feel like I've made it. Atlanta is truly becoming the "Hollywood of the south" and that's not a good thing. Certain aspects of the city mimic all the superficiality of Hollywood without enough talent or money to back it up.

Something about that whole element turns me off but when there are so many people around who live that lifestyle it becomes hard to avoid. Whenever I run into one of these entertainment guys, I always ask them this question. "If you worked solely as a __________ (rapper/actor/comedian/whatever) and earned the same amount that a person would make on a normal job, meaning you are able to live comfortably while practicing your craft but overall no one knew who you were, would you be happy with that?" Invariably, the answer is always no. They want the fame. In my opinion, that is the wrong answer.

Besides the fact that I think the need for constant validation from others is a character flaw, I have another problem with these "fame chasers". So many people use entertainment as not only a shortcut from hard work, but also as an excuse to be ratchet. Oh….I have to post these azz shots on Twitter because I'm a "model" or I have to be in the club every time it opens because I'm promoting my "music". Because apparently their craft would be better served by using someone's rent money to make it rain in the strip club than by sitting down somewhere and writing some lyrics that make sense. Oh okay…

Because you have an influx of talentless people who just want to be "put on" by any means necessary, it makes me skeptical of people who have these "hyphen" careers. I'm sure we all know the type. These people don't want to work so they just flit from one get rich quick scheme to another. First he's on some MLM scam, then he's a "writer", now he's think he wants to go into acting…. Boy stop! You basically don't want to work.

That's what I get from most of these fame chasers and that's why I avoid them. I'll take a regular dude all day every day.

Be Happy

When you think about the fact that your bad day is better than a lot of people’s best day then you’ll never get pissed. –Slim Thugga

Every now and then it’s easy to become so bogged down with mundane life problems that you forget all of the wonderful things that you have to be thankful for. Consider the fact that nearly half the world – over three billion people – live on less than $2.50 a day. When you think about how much worse things could be, it almost feels like you’re being a little insulting to the universe by complaining.

Once a month, I’m going to use my blog to remind myself of all of the things that I have to be grateful for. I encourage you to take stock of your list as well. These don’t have to be deep & profound things… Just anything you want to list that makes your life happier. It can be a big thing (like good health) or small mundane things (like a favorite lip gloss). The point is that you should always remember the good things in your life and not get weighed down by the negative.

So here are 25 random things that I’m thankful for (in no particular order):

• Good Health
• My Mom
• God
• My nieces & nephew
• My Grandmother
• My family
• A Great Job
• Having a great boss
• Upward mobility
• My apartment
• My car
• Springtime in Atlanta
• Friends
• Sisters
• ΔΣΘ
• My laptop
• D.G.
• My passport
• Quality Remy (lol)
• My iPhone
• My sense of humor
• HBO
• Travel
• Good wine
• M•A•C