I remember as a child wanting desperately to be famous. Having had a taste of what it was like to be idolised on my first gig as a drummer at a local school at 13, it drove me to focus on music as a career and later worked with some of the UK’s best known bands.
It was there, however, I saw the dark side of fame and the music industry. That same desire had reduced some of those who’d truly enjoyed fame and wanted to relive it, become desperately sad and needy as a consequence.
Be careful what you wish for, is what my mother often told me and she was right, of course. So many of us want what we believe is the ultimate dream: money, fame, recognition. But, like me, if that becomes the only aim, the spoils, once won, may well become very shallow and the need to sustain it damaging.
We celebrate achievements of ’the best’ in so many award ceremonies today, but little is said about the most loving. As I’ve become older, I’ve realised the value of doing things for others rather than oneself. I wonder if this was celebrated more readily, instead of winning, as a society, we might encourage our offspring to consider ‘giving’ and ‘being’ more worthwhile life achievements than simply money or adulation?
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