An illusion of fame

Fame according to the English dictionary is to have influence or to be widely known for both good and wrong reasons either online or physically.  In this age of social media, it has become easier, according to most people’s speculations, to be famous. Precisely speaking let’s say, it is process-free and with less cost to be fantasized with the illusion of fame in a short period. It is an effortless walk to the path to an illusion of fame than to be genuinely famous but ignorance won’t let the victims of such tell the difference.

With an Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or any other popular social media account, a few followers, and a bunch of likes, most people can be or might think they are famous. This most of the time pushes some to dive into wrong ventures influenced by social media analytics thinking they are good at something they may not be just because it went viral or it was controversial one time. With the instantaneous syndrome, everyone is now craving immediate gratification without careful thought about its consequences.

Image by Firmbee from Pixabay

Arguably, social media as a platform is a wrong place to draw genuine conclusions especially when used as a merit of distinction between being known either for the right reason or for the wrong reasons. This is because it is famously known for promoting makeshift facts about life.  Mediocrity is more celebrated as a standard of life thanks to social media. With social media, it is popular and widely celebrated to defy the odds of nature and create unethical philosophies of life.

As a result of inventions and inventions, we have made the world increasingly more technically advanced and more comfortable to the point that it is easier to become what you think of becoming. Well, that’s true, the only difference is when you desire results more than the process. That will always serve you the satisfactory counterfeit version of greatness that serves you with a feeling of success for a short time. Greatness attracts fame but the only difference is your version of greatness. We can sum that up by saying that you can only become who you think of becoming if you are willing to pay the price.

In the business world, it is always believed that a real business is that which solves a problem. This therefore means that a problem is a business opportunity in disguise. The only problem is when a problem is not given a real solution, and the makeshift solution is more profitable than the authentic one. For instance, with social media, it is easy to have strangers as your friends online and feel accepted as a way of justification rather than fixing a problem in the best way.  This means there will always be more demand placed for the wrong version since it looks genuine.  More demand equals more profits at the expense of life ethics. It is like celebrating mental illness instead of treating it because it feels better to celebrate sickness than to treat it. In other scenarios, social media is widely used for other reasons not included in the manual by the manufacturer like to medicate your way out of a problem, that requires a different method of medication. Just because something works, feels good, or is profitable doesn’t mean it’s the right thing, but only time will tell the difference.

A bigger percentage of people in this world are addicted to seeking attention. People want to be famous even though most are not good at anything or have not yet figured out their area of expertise. This when left unchecked in the long run majorly turns out to be a self-made enslavement. They say that what you consume, consumes you, and what consumes you controls you. Through temporary satisfactions, addiction tends to act as a distraction from discovering the real you since an illusion of success satisfies more than the process of getting the authentic one. Brian Tracy in his book 21 Success Secrets of self-made Millionaires says, “Successful people are more concerned with pleasing results while failures are more concerned with pleasing methods.”

One of the brighter sides of social is that it brings people together, connects people, and solves most of the problems in this world. The dark side is when it is used as a blueprint for life or solving problems not included in the manual. Instead of discovering ourselves based on how we were designed, we end up labeling ourselves and living according to the standards set by the wrong people online most of whom we do know not. This often makes people admire wrong things at the expense of the right ones. As a tool for connecting people, social media also can be used to connect fools with mediocre philosophies and start feeding people with wrong ideas and short-term solutions that feel good and profitable to everyone but you.

Real fame is not bought or chased but attracted not to individuals with ulterior motives, but rather to those tasked with the objectives of making the world a better place through fulfillment of their purposes. Fame is a tool that gives you credibility for your purpose and not for self-aggrandizement. Fame without a purpose is a self-destruction button and cannot stand the test of time. To be famous should not be about being allotted and applauded but for servitude. You don’t seek fame, it is given as a reward and a tool at the same time to specific people according to their abilities. Not everyone can steward fame but only those willing to pay the price. Everything has a price to pay because there’s no shortcut to any place worth going.

We are all spiritual beings having a human experience, and every spiritual being has a calling, a God’s calling to be specific, and not a conference call. It is always a personal call. Our potential and our abilities as tools are the links to the purpose we are called for. To pursue fame is like buying a tool before you understand its purpose. The pursuit of fame mostly is a result of identity crisis, comparison, and lack of a purpose in life which should be the main aim. To be in alignment with your purpose is to be the person your destiny demands not what the feeds feed you. Your destiny demands that you become what you need to become, not want you want to become as influenced by wrong blueprints.

Most great people are famous, but not all famous people are great. Greatness is not measured by the number of likes you get, the followers you have, subscribers, controversy, or any other form of popularity under the sun, but in the fulfillment of your purpose. The greatest one is always the servant and not the master. To desire to be great without the desire to serve is similar to being useless with a big name. That’s the result of an illusion of fame. With the right tools in the wrong hands and for the wrong job destruction is inevitable. Social media is a tool like any other for solving specific problems of life and not a substitute for living. When fame gets you, there must be a purpose, because without a purpose, it’s just an illusion of fame.