Famous

Last night I ended my post by talking about biography posts and how I'd write about people I don't know. I didn't mean personally. I meant I wasn't actually familiar with their work.

What I wrote must of influenced my dreams.....

I decide to write a biography post even though it's late in the day. It's around 7 pm which makes me worry I won't be able to get it done in time.  I find the name from my list and realize I know this woman. I watch her TV show. When I added her to the list, she was just a name to me.  

Then the dream changes to... Well, not only do I watch this woman's TV show, I work with her! We're friends. I realize I can actually interview her for the biography post. We're both excited about this. I'm thinking I should ask her questions about her life in Australia. 

I think another thing that influenced my dream is that lately there's this thing I've been thinking. It's that the world can be divided into three types of people: Celebrities, has-been celebrities, and potential future celebrities. I thought it sounded brilliant, but then I realized it's not quite true. You also have to add in has been-celebrities-who-are-making-a-comeback.

I got all this from being at YouCube, the Minecraft convention. I thought it was very cool, because the huge celebrities there weren't Jason-Donovan-like hot rockstars. They were geeky gamers. Kids were screaming for them. Cheering. I thought it was beautiful. And I thought about how, one day, some of these screaming kids will be Minecraft celebrities themselves one day...or celebrities in some other way. Then other kids will be standing in long lines for their autographs. And some of the celebrities at this year's YouCube convention might become has-beens.

So I think, in my dream, I was imagining what my biography posts might be like if I jumped into the celebrity pool.

Although if I did become famous, I don't think I'd want it to be for doing celebrity interviews.  Or if I became famous for something else, I probably wouldn't want to use that fame to open the door to being an interviewer. I feel bad enough watching celebrity interviews—the ones where there's so much prying. And sometimes I feel bad just reporting what I read in other interview as I did with the biography posts.

Despite feeling bad, though, I also had fun, and I did it anyway. So maybe I DO have it in me to do celebrity interviews. Who knows....

Well, I don't.

Anyway. I'm having doubts about me joining the celebrity group. One (or more) of the Minecraft celebrities said they never imagined being so famous. They just did what they love.

It made me think of how I'm not like that. My whole life I've done things I loved; then I have fantasies about becoming famous for it. Maybe that jinxes you.

In the interview with Jason Donovan, he said he wasn't interested in becoming famous. He just liked acting and singing. But then the interviewer asked whether he'd go back and change the fame—give it all up; change the past. Jason Donovan said no. I'm not sure if he was initially being fake. Like when MP's announce they have no interest in being Prime Minister and next thing we know they're Prime Minister. Or maybe Donovan meant he didn't think of being famous but once it happened, he liked it.

I think the same goes for Minecraft celebrities. They seem to be greatly enjoying their fame. All the adoration. But maybe they weren't expecting it? You can not want something; then end up liking it once you get it.

There have been times in my life where I have been repulsed by fame. Rare times. Yes. But they do happen. One of them was during that recent period where I stopped blogging. I highly valued my privacy and had no aspirations involving getting attention.  Maybe during one of these times, I will start up a new hobby totally not expecting or wanting to become famous. Then I'll become famous.

* * *

I just spent some time on the toilet, which gave me more opportunities to think of all this. I've concluded it's usually bullshit when people say they do certain  things not expecting to be famous. Or maybe I can buy that they didn't expect to be famous. But that doesn't mean they didn't WANT to be famous. 

If you love the craft of acting and singing, there's no reason you have to go on a national soap opera or start recording pop songs. You can act in a quiet local theater. You can sing for your house of worship or at weddings and funerals of people you know.

If you like writing about your life, there's no need to put it on a public blog. You can keep a private diary. That's not to say all of us bloggers are dreaming of becoming huge celebrities. But if a Blogger sits there and says I'm not seeking any amount of attention, I'd say prove it. Change your blog to a private-one. Your eyes only.  

If you love Minecraft, there's no need to make it a public thing. I play everyday by myself—Single Player. I have a great amount of fun. That's not to say I haven't imagined playing for an audience. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I just can't imagine anyone taking the time to create and upload videos and then not have fantasies of getting kudos for their effort.  

I think one of the main themes, though, of the Minecraft panels was that you do need to start small. There are huge successful Minecraft servers with tons of visitors. There are Minecraft YouTubers who have thousands of views and subscribers. The magic happens for a select few. It's foolish to jump into the game wanting that and only that—expecting you're going to get it and refusing to be satisfied with anything less.

You can dream big. HUGE. But I think you also have to be satisfied with the smaller things.

I have fantasies of my new novel becoming a huge bestseller. I love the idea of it being turned into a TV show. I'd like it all to make me super wealthy. I'm not going to deny these fantasies.

But I am so far away from that point. Right now I look at my Kindle sales report, and on most days, I have sold zero books. I look at it with mild disappointment and then go onto other things. On days that I see a sale, I am pleased. I don't sit there and think, well, that's crap. I sold only one book. I should be selling a hundred in one day.

Maybe my advice to myself (and others) would be. Reach for the stars but be content with lightning bugs.  

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