We see time and time again our celebrity heroes posting images or talking about their awesome ‘blessed’ lives and we buy into it. We see them effortlessly gliding into the first class plane seats or better yet chartering their own aircraft to grab a coffee in Milan with a designer. Thanks to the amazing world of social media we can glimpse into their lives and indulge; admittedly from afar, in their world. The same can be said for burlesque and to be honest with anyone on social media. We skip over the hardships we know our idols have endured and see only the shiny glittery things like a good magpie.
Social media has aided in our blinkered view that life is hard for all. I mean that. Hard. Some have more easy times than others for sure but hard times is something all of us will experience. Our perception of ‘hard’ is individualistic but rest assured there are few people alive who haven’t felt sad or upset by something somewhere. (if you are out there, lets swap lives). We forget that celebrities such as Lady Gaga are hounded day and night to the point where I imagine she cant take a dump without someone knowing. She didnt ask for that. She wanted to be a singer and in turn became a star but we crave the glamour and with that the downfalls. We relish the gossip of breakups and media meltdowns. We regal in spats on line between tv stars and laugh at fashion faux pas. It is easily done and evident to see on line.
Hardwork and suffering to achieve isnt something people like to share too much. I think possibly due to the desire to believe in fairy stories. We want to have that Cinderella moment where we are picked and thrust into to the limelight. Our talent was seen instantly and all hardship melted away. Life is not like that.
We can buy followers on the internet to appear more popular. To the trained eye that is easily seen through. We can photoshop our images. We can position ourselves in photos to look like we are stars at the front and not girls in the queue. We are travelling all over the world and not slogging it on a Megabus. We are drinking champagne and not prosecco. Its all make believe because we want our Cinderella story. Happy images sell us better than others. It makes sense to push those.
BUT
Remember for every success story there is a hardship story. Always. The knock backs happen even to Adele, Dita worked hard to get the headline slot, Lady Gaga pounded the streets to auditions. Its not all rhinestones and champagne. Its a lot more smoke and mirrors than you see. Remember that next time you worry you arent achieving. This is simply the backstory to your success.
