Day 156: A Blessing or A Curse?

When looking at all of the amazing artifacts dating hundreds of years old, I have been thinking about what will I leave behind once this life is over.  Do we leave behind things that people flock to or do we leave behind things that people run away from?  Do we leave behind a blessing or a curse?

Statues of Gods and Goddesses, relics and stories handed down by mouth alone are all things that I am learning about in the cultural richness of this great country of India.  History is something that the people here are surrounded by constantly.  I am often asked why my fascination leads me to take numerous pictures of such ordinary things that the Indian people treat as common as a park bench.  Perhaps, this is what we do with things in our own lives.

When was the last time you looked at your mother and/or father and looked at them as people who wanted to leave a legacy alive inside of you?  Have you ever looked at the things that you have collected and wondered, or even appreciated, why you collected them in the first place?  Can you hear, smell or touch the exact moment when you found the item?  What was the memory that you attached to it?

We leave behind words, waste or emotions all the time and never think about it?  In other words, we are not present to our own presence.  When we leave these things behind with intention -both, positive and, unfortunately, negative, we are then an effective human being.  Are we someone that people are happy that you are coming?  Or, are we someone that people are excited to see you go?  

Negative things can be a blessing and positive things can be a curse.  Which one do you choose? 

Day 150: To be famous?

While many of us think of a job as a means to an end, many others are looking at a job as the thing we were born to do.  I remember being in high school and taking a career assessment test.  My assessment came back saying that my career path would be best suited for engineering.  While, at times, I can be innovative and a very stealthy problem solver, I wanted to be famous.  

I wanted to be famous.  I had no idea what fame was other than everyone would know my name and life would be easy.  I had dreams of being on Broadway because my community theatre and high school experience granted me such dream.  I wanted to be a famous singer.  Although, now, I am not sure what type of fame that would have entailed.  Then, in college, I wanted to be a famous artist.  I knew what that looked like.  I would be called to be in all of these galleries and I could just create art all day long in my studio.  

Now, in reality, I spent so much time wanting to be famous that I didn't take the time to just create because everything I did was going to create this fame.  My art was good and my ego was way too strong.  Wanting fame not only made me feel like I was missing out on something, it made me miss out on the whole part of becoming famous.  I would even say that because I didn't achieve this fame, I was worth nothing.  

Go back to the times before social media where you didn't have endless platforms to put yourself out on.  This is before YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.  Are we able to remember such a time?  This was before the smart phone.  Many people know about Steve Jobs, but many more people know about the iPhone.  It would be safe to say that the iPhone won the fame game.  was Steve Jobs ever jealous of his creation's fame?

As I started creating my InstaStory today, I thought about how this need for fame has diminished.  The need has been replaced with pure creation.  I am not creating for someone to notice me.  I'm not singing so someone will book me for a show.  I'm not taking endless photographs for a gallery to pick me up and sell my art.  I do all these things because I have.  I have to because it's who I am.  I am a creator.  I find inspiration in things people don't ordinarily pay attention to.  Creativity is like air to me.  Without creativity, I have serious issues.  

When I dissect this idea of fame, I have to say I am famous in my own way.  I am brave.  I have performed in some amazing spaces including Carnegie Hall.  I have shown my artwork on the campus of Google itself in Mountain View, CA.  I have served my community with my talents.  I guess you could say - Fame comes from within.  I create because that's who I am.  

Trying to be famous is like going to the casino and saying I'm going to win $1,000,000.  It rarely happens, but, every now and then, you win $60 on a slot machine called Kitty Glitter.