None of us humans are alike and I think that’s a good thing. Our uniqueness sets us apart and keeps things interesting.
Personally, I have never been one to place a movie star or a musician on a pedestal. The thing about pedestals, is sooner or later they fall over. Besides, putting someone on a pedestal kind of means you are elevating them to a position of worship and therein lies the rub. I only worship the true and living God.
Therefore, I don’t understand why everyone seems to go crazy when a celebrity dies. They put their pants on one leg at a time, they are born and one day they will die. Same for each of us.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy music and have had my favorites along the way but I never passed out swooning over them or felt faint when they died. If we put as much attention and emphasis on doing good for our fellow man as some do when a celebrity dies, the world would not be in the shape it is today. There is a time for everything, including mourning but we also need to keep things in perspective.
When a celebrity dies, it is not the end of the world, or of Hollywood or music for that matter. Perhaps the end of an era but not the end of life as we know it.
It is just part of the cycle of life. Each one of us is different. Each has our own path to walk. Not all of us can become famous celebrities, nor do all of us want to walk down that path.
Some, if you go by their reactions, made these celebrities into idols, which as the Bible tells us, is sinful. They blow social media up with the death for weeks on end. Some seem to not be able to move forward from it.
Many of these celebrities have their own demons they deal with and we never hear anything about it. Some come to light and then we either lambast them or sympathize with them. Their chosen profession doesn’t make them less human than the rest of us. In reality they probably have more to contend with in their daily life than the rest of us.
Who wants to be on public display 24/7 and get harassed by photographers when you appear in public? Certainly not me.
Everything just seems to be upside down these days. We celebrate things we shouldn’t and let important things go by unnoticed. People die serving their country and we don’t even know their names. Yet, let a celebrity die and the whole world goes into mourning mode.
It’s sad when anyone dies, especially if we don’t think they are going to heaven. But we were all born to die and will one day. I say we should celebrate the life they lived and pass the memories forward.
We see a star on the big screen and think we know them but that is far from the truth. Most of the images we see of them are manufactured and what they want us to see.
Instead of focusing on the lives of the celebrities, we need to focus on the people in our lives and get a better sense of our communities. There are far better things and places for us to focus our energy.
Perhaps we focus on them so much because we are just waiting for them to fall because we don’t see the reality of their true lives. It gives us a sense of security to know that their lives aren’t as charmed as they seem. Or perhaps we want to live in their bigger than life perceived reality. We even go so far as to listen to them when they spout off about politics and politicians. Today’s cultural sees fame as the cure for all things. But I assure you it’s not, you just don’t know all the ins and outs of a celebrity’s life.
Many look as if they are going to the prom every day. They seem to never age but that has cost some of them dearly. They have spent a fortune on plastic surgery and they worry about what happens when they can no longer maintain that appearance. Many, once they achieve star status, forget where they came from and never give anything back. Some who do give back, think that it makes all of their morally wrong decisions okay, or that they can get back in the public’s good graces once they’ve fallen, and are giving back for the wrong reasons.
Yes, there are a few who give back for the right reasons. We rarely hear about those because it doesn’t make for good media.
The true celebrities to me are those people who work behind the scenes in their communities for the good of the whole or those who serve their country to keep us free. In our local communities they may be firemen, EMTs, city or county workers, even some officials or just volunteers. They don’t toot their own horn and they are investing in the lives of others and their communities because they believe it is the right thing to do. We rarely hear about them but believe me, they are there none-the-less. They are not seeking fame for their good works. Every now and then they may receive an honor or an award, but it’s not the reason they do what they do. Some never even get a thank you and they are okay with that fact.
I encourage you to recognize these true celebrities and spend more time appreciating them. I say thank you to all of these people. The community is better for all you do.©2016

VICTORIA SIMMONS is an author, columnist, motivational speaker, minister and publisher of The Georgia Post/Byron Buzz. Contact her at: vsimmons54@gmail.com