Real

So, I think that’s it. That’s what I wanted to tell you about Fame. That’s what I remember, and those are my theories. Maybe now you can reject someone’s imposed reality on you, if you inhaled the self-help moments here. Maybe now you’ll see the red carpet, pre–awards show experience on TV with different eyes. Maybe now you’ll have more compassion for your once-favorite film star. But, maybe some people won’t. Maybe they’ll still see anyone with Fame as the enemy—selfish and privileged, rich and uncaring, childish and stupid. If so, I guess we’ll see those people on Twitter, ripping us a new one. I hope not. If I’ve turned one hater here, with this book, it will have been worth it. Me, crawling through the thorny bush of the Slide and the Descent, having told you my loathing of memoirs and possibly insulting my friends.

I hope you can see that the bestowing of Fame is not some ultimate signal of God’s approval, or anything like that. It’s just this strange, societally made structure we keep alive so that we can have the hope that things can change, can get better for us. The Fame structure in our society is really just us imposing our self-will, trying to force some “nice provision” for ourselves. It’s an indication that we, in fact, don’t trust God (or the universe, or the sun, or whatever you want) to make things better for us, such that we set up this immense Fame game board to insure that there will be a guaranteed chance, at least, of us landing on a square and climbing a ladder to Fame, to “ultimate favor.” Well, that’s all bullshit. So, don’t feel bad if you never “get famous.” Don’t freak out if you have less than 300 Twitter followers. It doesn’t fucking matter.

Here’s the point I want to make about the pursuit of Fame; it’s something I hope can be absorbed, really seep into society. The pursuit of Fame—I’m not talking about the Fame that is sprayed on you because you are just doing your work—the pursuit of Fame will shut your true self off. Or, as Mike Fox says, “If Fame is the horse that leads the cart, you’re never going to change, and you’re going to be looking up an asshole that’s going to dump shit on you every once in a while.” If you are looking to be famous, at any cost, for any reason, then you are only allowing a shell of yourself. It’s harsh, I know, what I just said. But, it’s true. If you are reading this right now, and that is true for you, I’m here to tell you that YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTING AND YOU NEED TO LET THAT FLAG FLY. There is nothing interesting about pursuing Fame. It will not fix your problems. It will not bring you that bundle of nice things, not in the right way. To pursue Fame, you must cut off, you must not pay attention to, any of the things you are truly good at.

Here’s what I’m saying: You have a basket of skills and talents that no one else has. You are born with them. Your talent may be working with the elderly. You’re really good at it; it brings you pleasure, a feeling of accomplishment, but you know you are never going to be famous doing it. So maybe you hide that gift. You shove it down in the bottom of the laundry bag, down under last week’s socks, because you want to pursue something that everyone, that all others, deem “important.” And like we’ve established, society thinks that Fame is the top of the line. So, you go after it. And you shut off your gift. And so, it is lost to us, it is lost to our society, your gift with the elderly, say. Think about it. How many people, right now, are shutting off gifts for our current society because they are instead pursuing Fame. We are missing out. Our society is not as rich because of it. We have put such a false, bloated value on Fame that our entire society is missing out of the true gifts and talents of many. If this is you, please let us see you. We need you. Society is not what was intended without you letting us see who you really are. Our society right now assumes we should feel shame about positions that are not “famous.” That is ridiculous and I hope you’ll press against it.

I’m not going to blow smoke up your ass. I’m not going to tell you, “You are a shining star, just as you are!” Shit, that’s the basis of the reality show cancer in our country. No, you have to work at it. You have to take those skills and talents and you have to work them and you have to have the guts to let everyone see what you’re good at. You have to fight that voice, either in your head or coming out of someone’s mouth, that tells you those skills and talents “just aren’t enough.” Fight it, because you know they’re full of shit. Refuse the imposed reality they’re trying to spray onto you. They’re only telling you what they tell themselves. What they’re saying isn’t real. But, you are real and your skills and talents are real. Stand up and be willing to feel alone; the feeling won’t last long, there will be others there. Get fearless and get bulletproof. You can do it.