Anyways, it got me thinking about how much press it has gotten. Tributes. News. My grandpa is bedridden and likes watching the news all day- instead of mainly politics (especially right now) there is more on Whitney Houston than almost any other genre (politics, other breaking news, foreign news...). The thing is, did she make an impact on the world? Sure. Through her music she reached millions of people. Same with Michael Jackson. Yet both of them had, no offense, kinda messed up personal lives.
Whitney Houston, for some reason, turned to heavy drugs and alcohol abuse and even damaged her own voice- her main influence on the world.
Michael Jackson- great music that also reached millions- probably more than Whitney, but I don’t know the statistics. But his personal life was always mixed up with controversy on the news.
Both, good looking people (originally, anyways). Both AMAZING artists. Both legends. Yet their personal life was somehow unfulfilled.
Then, on top of all this, I was watching Smallville where a girl, Cat Grant, is talking to Clark Kent (Superman), and she talks about how she changed her name to protect her son so they couldn’t be tracked down (sounded like possibly an abuse situation but they didn’t go into details). Then she says something insightful- ‘I may not be a hero, but I hope one day my son will know what I did and think it was heroic and I can be a hero to him.’ (PARAPHRASE- I didn’t think I would be using the quote when I heard it so I have no notes on how it officially goes). THIS is what I want all of us to think on. Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson reached so many people in their public lives, and influenced people through music. Maybe not heroes to everyone, but I doubt anyone can say that they didn’t leave an impact on the world, but their private lives were a struggle. For me, my public life is a struggle: I have no far-reaching fame. I’m not a famous novelist, blogger, singer, actor, or any type of public figure. Even those things I do go mostly unrecognized or are considered insignificant to the masses. But if I live my private life to the best of my ability, maybe one day I will be an icon to a son or daughter, a friend or friend’s child, or someone I meet only once. Maybe I can make a difference and be a legend in one person’s eyes, or make a difference for just one person. And even if we only affect ONE person, our life is meaningful and worth living for that ONE person whom we helped. May we all strive to have meaning in our lives and affect the world for the better- one person at a time. (Unless you’re famous- then you can try for higher numbers at a time, of course).
