Anyone can be famous. Fame is nothing. Many people are famous to the detriment of their lives. Be kind. Be friendly. Be content. Be effective. Be able to sit quietly and be at peace with the voice in your own head. Be any of these things, but forget about being famous.
How many people wake up and walk away from positions of power? If you need it, if you feel like you'll be lost without it, if the thought of losing it gives you pangs of desperation in the pit of your stomach, where is the power? When you let it go and just do what you can do with the passion of your blood and bones and with the full fervor of your mind, that old joy comes back. You can put your head on the pillow at night, remember what you accomplished today and know what you hope to accomplish tomorrow.
The best you can do is to do something. It's a kind of fitful madness to want the end without the means. Nameless affection with no object. Famous for being famous. Wealth without value. Baseless self esteem. A want to be or a want to have but no want to do. It's a kind of fitful madness.
I was once asked to help clean a house that had been flooded when torrential rain swelled a neighboring creek. Before the flood, the house had been a disheveled mess, with junk and clothes and garbage covering almost every inch of the floor. When the flood came in, this junk was covered with thick, smelly mud. Upon entering the house, I was overwhelmed with the magnitude of the job at hand. I was paralyzed, and could not begin. My wife and mother, who were also there, came into the house, took some cleaning supplies, went to back corners, and started to clean. It wasn't long before the corners were clean and they were moving across the room. Taking their example, I went to another corner. Forgetting the big picture, I started to clean what was in front of me. Together, the we cleaned the entire house. There is no replacement for working at the obvious task at hand. Actively working on the obvious task at hand is almost always the real answer, however hard we try to avoid it or strategize it away.
I'm a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle. Here is my spout. When I get all steamed up, then I shout. Just tip me over and pour me out.
It's pretty simple, really.
Hello, friends. How are you today?
Later. Love.
