A Soul in Torment

I hadn’t planned on watching the memorial, but there wasn’t much else on when I got home from work. I’m kind of glad. It’s been a good thing, I think, to remember that young boy, so happy to be performing with his brothers. I was not that big a fan, but I remember “Billie Jean” and moonwalking because my children would be glued to MTV whenever his videos came on. And I was reminded of “Little” Stevie Wonder (God, talk about getting older/getting better!) as I watched his seasoned performance this afternoon.

I remember watching Amadeus back in the 90’s and learning what a strained childhood Mozart lived, and how hard it was for him to grow up and live a normal life. I believe performers like Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder have that same genius.

And I was struck by what genius does to a gifted person. I could not help but feel something of the loneliness that such success seems to bring, and I cannot help but wonder why we who post here are so concerned about that NYT bestseller list.

Shelagh joked (I think it was a joke) that we would have to sell our grandmothers (Didn’t make much sense to me, though. Gee, Shelagh, that is precisely who I am trying so hard to sell), if we wanted to make that list.

I did realize that I want to just be contented with what I have and what I can do. This is a good place to be. I will leave the genius to those like Jackson, Wonder, and Mozart. They truly earned it.

Ann

This is a quote from an interview with the British novelist, Michael Marshall Smith (Spares):

"It’s a weird industry, it appears so glamorous and it’s so full of
lunatics and banality and people who would literally sell their own
grandmother."

http://tech.uk.msn.com/features/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4949601&imageindex=2

"Sell their own grandmother" is a common saying in the UK meaning that someone would do whatever it takes to succeed. Looking at Michael Jackson's life, it does make you wonder (no pun intended!) why anyone would aspire to that degree of success.

I think that there must come a time in all that fame that they know they are not themselves but a mythical product that has been sold. Deep inside they must know that is the truth but they have no choices but to perpetuate the myth.
They are on a fast train and there is no stopping place until they die. I hope Mr. Jackson is at rest.

Love,
Betty

My husband has watched everything on TV about the captain who brought the plane down in the Hudson. He is a humble man caught up in fame and they said he will not go back to flying until the fall.

I recently read about a book by Buzz Aldrin about going to the moon and coming back and not knowing what to do with his life.

We all have dreams and many people even fear fame and fortune. Mine dreams are to get a book published that makes a difference to someone somehow. But I've already done that. I want to keep improving, keep learning, honing my skills, finding a niche that works for me.

So maybe mediocrity isn't a bad thing. I believe we are all learning, all valuable, all have a place here on this messageboard.

If I caused any of the problems here I am sorry. I think Alice felt caught between friends, but I've got friends who aren't necessarily from the same group or would even get along or like each other. I said once how I love imperfection, that it is in imperfection where stories lie.

Last week my granddaughter told me "If I can write a poem for Forever Friends, I can certainly write two on nuclear peace for a scholarship application." Accomplishments keep us going, keep us believing.

If Lane has left we will miss his expertise. Although I often got frustrated at his presentation of information, I tried to tell him on many threads that I thought what he said had value.

Alice provided joy and mirth, something we all need. She made being creative fun, just letting go of all the structure in getting published, and gave us an escapes into imagining. Those escapes are what we all need.

Ann, if there are ever souls in torment here, I know we will rally around them.

Carol

I am a soul in torment because actual news has been forgotten.

You? A soul in torment? Boy, you learn something every day.

If Lane has left this forum, it is a two-fold loss, his and ours. He was occasionally challenged here, a good thing for a person who expresses himself with such certainty. He had many important ideas to share and contemplate; his delivery was a little harsh for my taste. However, there are people on this board for whom harsh words are not as troubling and conflict is enjoyable. As Betty said, there is something for everyone.

I sure missed something if Alice left.

Dear Dk,
I do not believe in huffs. Huffs serve no purpose except to the huffees. Mostly, the people who have been huffed wonder why they have been huffed by the huffers and are glad they are not the huffees and wonder why they are the huffed but when the hufferettes have huffed also, it becomes a real huffing and puffing wonder. I rest my miserable case.

Love,
Betty

This is very secret. Let's all go to the messageboard recovery thread and maybe Alice will feel obliged to come and take care of us. Shhhh.

Ann,

In the Times Higher, Robert A. Segal, writes:

"Contemporary heroes, we are often told, are anti-heroes. Far from
divine, the contemporary hero is hopelessly human: mortal, powerless,
amoral. The present-day hero is often lowly even within the human
community: more the outsider than the insider, more the loser than the
winner, more the villain than the savior. The contemporary hero is not
a once-great figure who has fallen but a figure who never rises.
Sisyphus, not Oedipus, let alone Heracles, epitomises contemporary
heroism. Sisyphus is to be commended only for never giving up.
Traditional heroic virtues such as courage and duty have given way to
new ones such as irony and detachment."

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=407157&c=1

Thank you, Shelagh. I've bookmarked the article so I can read it thoroughly. The paragraph you quoted explores ideas that are expressed by Rollo May in The Cry for Myth, one of the major sources in my book. I look forward to reading more of it.

Ann

Interesting, thought provoking article.

Carol