Parables for Today

The Fame Game Fame! It's something we all want. It's something very few of us get. And what exactly is it? It's recognition! It means awareness of our existence as a significant, out-of-the-ordinary individual has penetrated the brains of many other people. It's feedback from those other people that we have gotten their attention and they know who we are. It's like showing up at the bar in the TV series “Cheers” -- you go somewhere where everybody knows your name. This is what we want our lives to be – that proverbial bar, where everybody knows our name. The more peoples' awarenesses we have entered into, the more famous we are. Accompanying that awareness are a number of perks – mostly financial – that allow us to live an easier, more satisfying life. But we have to do something for that awareness-by-others to take place other than simply show up at the bar – and the list of those somethings, fortunately for fame's seekers, is quite long. Face it: Our consciousness – our attentiveness – is the most valuable possession we have. This is why advertisers and fame-seekers go after it so aggressively. They want to be internalized within us, want to have established niches within our brain that can be awakened and reactivated every time we are exposed to them. That's how they survive in human consciousness. Repetition is the key! Advertisers are particularly adept at this. They play “dirty pool.” They use things with visual appeal like a drop-dead gorgeous woman to promote their products and capture our attention, or prey upon our fears of contracting some sickness or facing a dreaded catastrophe. Listen to those manipulative political ads: “This horrible thing will happen if you vote for the other guy, but fear not – because I am the solution and only I can prevent this horrible thing from happening!” And it works! Manufacturers get our undivided attention and we march into the store and buy whatever it is that they've convinced us is worth our while, whether it really is or not! Or we scurry off to the ballot box to cast a vote for our savior politician! But guess what? That's how the game is played! And guess what else? We want to do that, too, to everybody else – mesmerize them into paying attention to us and whatever it is we're all about! Why? Because we're part of the game ourselves! We're our own product! We're our own one-person advertising agency! We, too, will do whatever it takes to get our product – ourselves – out there in the public eye! Yes, Fame! It's proof we stood out from the pack in the competitive world that we live in and were outstanding at something. We did something that got the world's attention and earned its admiration! We were Little Jack Horner. We put in our thumb into the world and pulled out a plumb, and were able to exclaim, “What a good boy am I!” We found a little piece of heaven in life and snatched it up and ran with it. If it's a nice enough chunk, it may even provide us with immortality that will survive us after we pass on – continued evidence we once existed after we no longer exist. It's a nice mantra to have chanted for all-time following our demise: “This person named so-and-so led a significant life, and deserves to be noted and remembered.” Time is the unknown variable in the Fame Game. Of course, we all want that penetration into mass human consciousness to last as long as possible. That which is allotted with some human activities is merely temporary – brief, one-shot deals of the so-called “15 minutes of fame” variety. In those instances, we're like a meteor: a flash across the sky that burns brightly for a few seconds, only quickly to fade and disappear as suddenly as it appeared.. Other types of fame are of the more durable variety and put us into the limelight for the long haul, where our recognition lasts for our lifetime, for generations, perhaps even forever. This is the type most of us prefer. Nobody wants to be the star of Emily Dickinson's poem, “I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you a nobody, too? . . . ” That would be anathema to the human ego! Ambition is a virtue, without which we do not even deserve to be alive! It's innate in all of us – programmed into our very genetic makeup – to desire greatness as a validation of our identity, validation of the fact that we lived upon this little orb called Earth. Descartes had it wrong! He said, “I think, therefore I exist.” The truth is this: “I am great, therefore I exist.” And if we don't have that feeling, that drive, we are not existing! We're losers, wallflowers just inconspicuously occupying space and in the way of the aspirants and the achievers. If that's the case with us, we shouldn't be here at all! We simply need to disappear! Everybody should want to be a somebody, a success in some way, to feel they have purpose and meaning and a role of importance in the grand scheme of things. Feeling we're going to die after having led an empty life is a scary thought, indeed! It's like going to the movies and having the film break or unravel in the projection room and having to leave the theater without seeing the show. We've wasted our time! . Some psychologists explain that this drive for recognition is really a fatal human flaw – that this is important to us because we're insecure about our self-worth and need this to convince ourselves that we're worthwhile individuals. Perhaps that's true. If it is, we've all contracted the epidemic disease. But let's not dwell on the negatives, because pursuit of this fame thing is all-consuming fun! There's no stigma in going after it, because we're all involved in the game. All of us want the spotlight shining in our direction so we can take a bow or two! Bravo! What is life, after all, but a big success contest?