All that Glitters is not Gold

I have always found it very interesting how we look at people that are famous, glamorous, seem to have it all going on for them and yet if we only knew...

A lot of the time when I make my characters, I have to do research to find out more about this famous icon. I am always surprised by what I find in most cases.

Take Clara Bow for instance...



She was a very famous starlet in the flapper era, and looking at her pictures you see a young woman who from all appearances is young, beautiful. very rich, and apparently having fun. But after I read about her very tragic life, it made me realize how often people mislead themselves into thinking that what someone else's life has is better than theirs.


I haven't delved into the biographies of any well known person without thinking by the end of the book that I was glad I wasn't them! If one is rich, they seem to have to worry about how to get richer...or keep it all. If one is poor, they have to struggle with survival in paying bills and eating and everything else. Even being beautiful has it's difficulties... (not that I have THAT problem! :) You get critiqued for every zit, cellulite bump, sagging flesh or wrinkle that shows. Then you feel you have to shell out all kinds of dough to fix your perceived flaws to pretend to the world that you aren't aging or human in your flaws.

If someone is famous or rich, they are still not exempt from tragedies and illnesses, (as in the example of John Travolta or Patrick Swayze). The idolized are not all very happy, no matter what face they may show to the world . Every job or title that makes us think that a person has it made is simply not so. There are situations in every single life that are not to be envied.

Which is why I am content to have the life I have. It may seem typical, may be even humdrum to some, but I wouldn't trade it for anyone else. Do I have problems? Sure do! Do I wish for other things? Sometimes, but if I take a reality check, I realize that I really am fortunate in what I have and have no real reason to complain-(But admittedly I still do complain sometimes!)

As I look back over my life, I can see that things were being worked out during the not so good times and I didn't even know it - or think so at the time. And, while some things still don't make sense, I also know I don't know everything so I probably wouldn't understand the why of every situation even if it was explained to me. Turning to God in difficult times is my biggest source of peace... it really is!