As a society, we often idolize celebrities. They have the opportunity to leave their mark on the world and they are able to make a living doing what they love, whether it’s acting or singing. They are given the chance to attend glamorous awards ceremonies and win prestigious awards and afterwards, party with several other A-listers. They have all the money and fame that we as a society crave and admire. So it always comes as a surprise when we discover a celebrity has a drug or alcohol addiction and especially when they commit suicide.
Society assumes that the fame and the glory and the money that comes with being a celebrity equals happiness because, when you are rich or famous nothing is denied to you. However, there is so much more to life than just money and fame. For me specifically the the three most important things for me would be my faith, my family and performing because these things bring me purpose and make me feel valued. My faith is one of the biggest things in my life that gives me value and purpose. Ever since I was born I was taught that Jesus loves me and came to the world to die for me.
And I don’t know about the rest of the world but that makes me feel very loved and important. It gives me purpose to continue living and bring the love and joy that I have to those around me. I also find Christianity different from other religions because all other religions are about reaching up to God to make it to heaven through our own works. But Christianity is about how God loves us and is reaching back. I know that I would not still be on this Earth if there was not some bigger purpose for me to serve.
I enjoy knowing that when I do die, everything I’ve done will not be the ultimate end all of my life and there is always going to be something better when I’m gone. As Hamlet said, “To be or not to be…” Many people are concerned with where they will go once they die. This question does not make me lose sleep or sweat because I know that there’s a reason why I’m here and there also is no question about where I’m going when I die. Hamlet struggled with knowing that his uncle was married to his mother and also killed his father and the torment was too much for him.
The big question of would be easier to face the unknown of death or the unknown of life is one that many people ask themselves. Hamlet knew that by living and facing his troubles, “and so opposing end them” would definitely bring him peace eventually. However, he would never know how long it would take to defeat his troubles and also how difficult it would be to reach that point. On the other side, nobody truly knows what death will bring do there is even more uncertainty that comes with taking one’s own life.
As I stated before, knowing where I will be going when I die and also knowing that there is still a purpose to my life because I get to wake up every morning. It’s hard to keep a positive attitude about the unknown and about the future because when terrible things happen I always believe that there is purpose. For example, my grandmother has been in and out of the hospital for the past year or so and my aunts and uncles can’t afford to pay for in-home care for her because she doesn’t want to stay in a home because she’s also relatively independent.
However, my brother decided not to take classes at LMC this semester because he wasn’t thinking that college was for him. He also didn’t know what to do in order to take up some of his free time. So we all decided to have him fly out to Chicago to live with my grandma and make sure she’ll be ok. Everything aligned so my grandma could have someone with her and still feel like she can take care of herself. And it also gives my brother something to do while he’s taking the semester off. Not to mention he loves the food in Chicago. Sometimes bad things happen and it will all work out for the best.
Even if the best isn’t what we originally thought it would look like. My family is also very important to me because they do their very best to give me as many opportunities as they possibly can. They love me unconditionally and they do their best to support me in everything I do. They always make sure to give everything I need and quite a bit of the stuff I don’t need which is more than I deserve. They do the best they can to provide me with everything I need, both material and emotional. I love spending time with my family and they always give me advice and help me with the tough decisions and choices that come with growing up.
I’m so grateful that my family is so supportive and caring and they do their best to encourage me in everything I do. They have also taught me that I need to recognize my own worth and my own value because that does not depend on what anybody else thinks of me. Some people have ended their lives because they had abusive households or their families couldn’t provide for them. People have ended their lives because their families didn’t support them or help them in any way. Very often people feel that of others don’t validate or recognize their worth then they are not worth anything.
This is not true in any way but it is difficult to see your own worth or value when nobody else acknowledges you or what you do. But my family has always been there for me. Especially when I’m performing they have always attended my performances and driven me to rehearsals and paid for private lessons. They make sure to encourage me and be honest with me. The last thing that gives my life value would be performing. I love being on stage and putting my all into dancing and singing and everything I do. I love the pure adrenaline that I have to run on during the third week of performances.
I love pouring emotion into my performances and transporting the audience to another world if only for a couple hours. The feeling before the opening night of a show is literally the best feeling ever. Theatre is such an underappreciated sport because it’s so unbelievably difficult to dance and sing and act at the same time and then smile at the end because the audience cannot know what we’re actually feeling underneath the costumes and hair and makeup. This gives me value because I’m able to make people see the world a little differently.
If I can change the life of one small child and allow them to see the world, not as it is, but as it could be, how much better would the world be? In the poem “Ozymandias” it is stated that no matter how much people try to insure that they are not forgotten. The statue of the most beloved god of the Egyptians has been demolished thus proving that legacies are hard to maintain. Many people are concerned about what their legacy will be and whether or not they will be remembered after they are dead. This poem brings about the sad reality that more often than not legacies are fragile and difficult to create.
In the musical “Hamilton”, throughout the whole show, Hamilton is trying desperately to make sure that he will be remembered and people will remember the poor immigrant. He happens to now be the exception to the fact that legacies are fragile, due to the musical about him trying to create his legacy. But before the musical was created very few people knew as much about him as they do now. Legacies are difficult to ensure due to the fact that legacies are almost completely out of your control. “It’s planting trees in a garden you never get to see”. Legacies are completely dependent on those around you.
So if you are remembered then you are given a value, btu will that value matter to you now that you’re dead? Most likely no. However, touching one life is ok. It’s also ok if that life you touch happens to be your own. In the article, “What Is a Life Worth? ”, the author discussed that after 9/11 the families were given money as a way of compensation. However, some people were given less money than others because there was a variety of people working in the buildings. The window washer and the investor’s families were not given the same amount of money because they did not make the same amount of money.
Society will constantly try to put an amount on the lives around them, however it’s nearly impossible to justify an amount placed on a human life. Regardless of who a person is, money will never truly be able to replace them or make up for the loss of them. So, can these dollar amounts really compensate for the life that was taken? No, not really. Although people may try to place value on people’s lives based on what they make and how famous they are there is no true way to give a value in money to a human being.
What gives a life value is not the money that is made by them, but the people that they touch and the way they changed the world. Not that the murderer’s life has any less value than the movie star. Every life has value. Lives are priceless and it’s so difficult to try and comprehend the value of a life because everybody’s life is different in it’s own way. What gives my life value, will not be the same for the atheist who plans on becoming a philosopher. Regardless, people need to know that nobody else can dictate the value of their life, because what matters the most is how they value themselves.
