Celebrity Living

Paparazzi seem to be the name of the game with the famous even though they have come under constant fire for invasion of privacy. In an article by Orthry Torres at Voices.Yahoo.com some years ago, the author questioned the reason for the inordinate attention and negative talk about those who make celebrities famous by the publicity they gave them. Should not celebrities expect being famous is accepting both their personal and professional lives will be watched and criticized from the media? If celebrities feel the paparazzi make them feel as if they are being stalked, is it fair to say they only mind being stalked when they have a book, movie, or album they need help in promoting?

Getting the publicity one desires and losing one’s privacy are two sides of the same coin when it comes to celebrity living. On the one hand it is a way of getting famous, on the other it may be deemed as invading private lives.

Today, many of us in a sense are celebrities online. Whether it is peer pressure or the need to stay in touch, we join social networks and leave behind trails of digital footprints of what we do and where we visit on the Internet. Our movements are tracked down by our followers and we are ‘stalked’ by different kinds of people. If we leave trails because we desire attention or to be followed, we might just get our reward or lose our credibility in full, depending on how well we handle our online activities and behavior. If we do not do well, our sin will find us out. If we blabber or share about the things we do in our private lives on the social networks, we should not expect to live our lives with absolute privacy.

Are we feeling we are under the scrutiny of the public eye? Are we making ourselves famous for the wrong reasons or are we doing it out of concern for others? Not all things in life can be done in secret, so we need not hide what must be done even in public. Our intent is what is important—are we doing it to show off or to care?

More Writings n Editorial Work

These days, besides performing official editorial tasks at work such as editing and writing, I am also regularly and unofficially writing devotionals. If you are interested in read my devotional writings, feel free to visit my other blog, Living Water.

Being Considerate

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind regard one another
as more important than yourselves;
(Philippians 2:3 NAS)

Living up to what the Word of God says about treating others as more important than ourselves is never an easy task.

Take the example of a day to day practice of consideration. When the train or bus arrives, do we take our turn in an orderly manner to pace forward or do we push to get in? How do we feel when others jump the queue and go in front of us? Is it being considerate to let them go first? What about the pregnant, the people with children, or the aged weak, do we give way to them and risk being late for work? To what degree are we to be considerate?

Not many days ago, I was at a shop trying to purchase an item that was placed at the bottom of some shelves. I have to bend down to pick the item but because a couple came by seemingly wanting to pass the narrow passage way, I quickly stood up and have my head crashed into some shelves. I found out then that the couple has no intention to pass through the path, but only wanted to see the items there.

When at the walkway of a path in the heartland, many bicycles and people with multiple children and a cradle often occupy the entire walkway, so I frequently bypass them by walking outside the path on the grass to give them room, but this act of consideration often ends in my having a sprained ankle, resulting from being caught in a hole, with mud and grass.

In a fast food restaurant, I always clear my trays after a meal, and sometimes have to clear others' debris and trays in order to have a space to eat. Imagine what the feeling is like watching others dump and mess up their tables with their debris? As a practitioner of consideration, I tend to expect others to do likewise, and this has make much of my life a misery, because, the majority do not practice consideration.

Occasionally, I ask myself whether I should quit being considerate and tell myself not to be the mister good guy anymore. This is the exact feeling Spider-Man faces when he tries to help and gets misunderstood. Such is the life Spidey and I share, frequently misunderstood for being nice, but self-pity is not a solution. There is a price to pay for being considerate, yet it is not something to be given up, simply because with great power comes great responsibility. I am a Christian and I have the power of the Holy Spirit inside me, so I must continue to bear the responsibility in demonstrating