As the level of fame and attention rises, so do expectations, temptations and mistrust. Family issues come to the fore. The pain of fame experience can be one of the dragon of fame eating its own tail. Or one in which one learns how to accept the challenges that come with their good fortune at least enough to be able to ride the dragon instead of be devoured by it. The adjustment, for many, is difficult.
Relationships shift as life circumstances shift. This is true whether or not notoriety, fame or celebrity is part of the shift into success. You meet lots of new people. Lingering in the back of your mind is the question:
Why do they want to be my friend? Do they like me because of who I am, really, or because of what I do or can provide? It’s hard to establish trusting relationships when you don’t know or trust the motivations behind the relationship.
Another challenge is the lack of privacy. The demands, expectations of people on the streets, the paparazzi, your schedule, the hungry traditional and online media and social networks can build to a point where you just want to run away and hide — but you can’t. You’re a celebrity. People will recognize you wherever you go.
Relationships shift as life circumstances shift. This is true whether or not notoriety, fame or celebrity is part of the shift into success. You meet lots of new people. Lingering in the back of your mind is the question:
Why do they want to be my friend? Do they like me because of who I am, really, or because of what I do or can provide? It’s hard to establish trusting relationships when you don’t know or trust the motivations behind the relationship.
Another challenge is the lack of privacy. The demands, expectations of people on the streets, the paparazzi, your schedule, the hungry traditional and online media and social networks can build to a point where you just want to run away and hide — but you can’t. You’re a celebrity. People will recognize you wherever you go.
You long for the days when you were able to enjoy your anonymity. You wouldn’t feel like some sort of a created public character and could wander about without being deluged with attention. You could have a “bad hair day” and no one would know about it. People wouldn’t make up and report stuff about you that is untrue. You wouldn’t be judged for what you do for a living. You wouldn’t feel separate, disconnected from the pulse of the mainstream culture in which you live.
Success and fame, like most things in life, isn’t good or bad. It’s how success and/or fame is experienced and leveraged that informs whether or not it is perceived as being good or bad. It takes a strong inner core to meet, face and transcend the unique and very real challenges — the pain, pitfalls and possibilities – that come with extraordinary achievement.
Author and Credits: Valery Satterwhite