I want to talk about a paradox, it\u2019s one that most of us have experienced and it relates to money and success.<\/p>\n
If you asked me if I thought commercial success was a true measurement of achievement, I\u2019m pretty sure that, philosophically speaking, I\u2019d say it wasn\u2019t. In reality though, when I meet people who have done well in their fields, (commercially I mean), then I can\u2019t help but feel more impressed than those who have not done so. I can do that because I\u2019m a hypocrite. We all know that loads of people who get rich and famous are probably there more by luck than by measure. Often people who seem to be far better at what they do than other, more well known, people often go unrecognised. It\u2019s just a fact of life. So what is it about commercial success and fame that a lot of us are so impressed by?<\/p>\n
Perhaps one thing it particularly relates to is\u00a0the \u201cPursuer, Distance Dynamic\u201d, again this is one of those things that most of us have experienced. It\u2019s basically the more someone wants us, the less we want them, and of course the more they don\u2019t want us, the more we desire them. It\u2019d kind of the first rule of love as well. The second rule of love is: When you\u2019re single no one wants you and when you\u2019re with someone people won\u2019t leave you alone, but I digress.<\/p>\n
So when it comes to fame there\u2019s a connection between these principles. People who are desired by others may trigger our own desires for them, because a subconscious message tells us, \u201cWell they must have something, if everyone else thinks so\u201d. I mean if you were to see two restaurants next to each other and one was full and the other was empty, which one would you be most likely to enter? So in a way fame feeds on itself and that\u2019s partly why it doesn\u2019t always relate to ability.<\/p>\n
One of the other ways we measure success is by how much others will pay for their services. I would happily pay \u00a340 to see Leonard Cohen, it would be an experience well worth every penny for me. There may be other artists who are \u201calmost\u201d as good, (not likely), but they haven\u2019t been in my head for as many years, and to me, seeing Leonard Cohen in real life would be like bringing my inner\u00a0and\u00a0external\u00a0worlds together. Again my willingness to pay to see Leonard Cohen isn\u2019t just about his ability it\u2019s about our relationship. So what\u2019s my point?<\/p>\n