Blindspot!
From Issue: 724 [Read full issue]
Ordinary and Uncool
One destructive obsession related to perfectionism is the fascination with celebrity culture. We desperately flip through magazines to find out all of the intimate details about the stars we love and the ones we hate. We want to know who has lost weight, how they decorate their houses, what they eat, what they feed their dogs ... you name it. If they eat it, wear it, own it or lose it - we want to do the same!
We want to share in their lives because we believe it's the way to bring us closer to the perfection we seek. Celebrities also bring us closer to another highly coveted asset - coolness. Unfortunately, in a culture driven by profit, there are multibillion-dollar industries making sure that perfection and coolness stay as elusive as they are seductive. There is no such thing as perfect enough or cool enough.
In our culture, the fear and shame of being ordinary is very real. We seem to measure the value of people's contributions (and sometimes their entire lives) by their level of public recognition. In other words, worth is measured by fame and fortune.
Our culture is quick to dismiss quiet, hardworking men and women. In many instances, we equate ordinary with boring or, even more dangerous, ordinary has become synonymous with meaningless. One of the greatest cultural consequences of devaluing our own lives has been our tolerance for what people do to achieve their "extraordinary" status.
Baseball players who pump themselves full of steroids and hormones are heroes. Corporate leaders with billion-dollar salary packages are envied, even if their employees are losing their pensions and benefits at the same time. Young children are overstressed and suffering from high rates of anxiety due to the overscheduling of extracurricular activities and the emphasis on standardized testing scores.
These examples beg the question, what are we willing to sacrifice in our pursuit of the extraordinary?
Compiled From:
"I Thought It Was Just Me" - Brene Brown, pp. 203-205