2016: The Year of Celebrity Worship

Do you ever ask yourself why you care so much about these people you have never met and never will? How their deaths can ruin your day or their election make you want to protest in the street?

Did you find it odd that Kanye West went from being hospitalized for a mental breakdown to meeting the president elect… all within a matter of weeks?

You ever wonder what real piece of news is going uncovered when Kanye West and Donald Trump shake hands and the zombified masses can’t help but but lean in?

“HEY KANYE. I KNOW YOU’RE STILL A LITTLE SHOOK UP FROM THE MENTAL BREAKDOWN, AND YOU’RE STILL GETTING USED TO YOUR NEW LEXAPRO DOSAGE… BUT I THINK WE CAN REALLY CAPITALIZE ON YOUR DONALD TRUMP RANT HERE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT MAKING A PUBLIC APPEARANCE WITH THE DONALD?” SAID SCUMBAG HANDLER/PUBLICIST.

You ever wonder if Trump is just another populist – like Obama and Bush – who will say anything to get elected then not follow through with any of their campaign promises? Did Obama bring us change? Is there really any hope left? Can Trump make enough appearances on talk shows and Saturday Night Live to shift the public’s perception and win over the American public?

Do you ever wonder why you allow yourself to become so absorbed in a presidential election that has very little to do with the condition of your life? Did you even know who to vote for this past election, or did the candidates running for your state and local government sound completely alien to you?

Do you ever wonder why a person like Carrie Fisher can bring about a public mourning from millions of Facebook users, while tens of thousands of people day each and every day die into obscurity?

Did you shed a tear for Princess Leia or David Bowe, but fall short when your great uncle died?

Have you ever contemplated the fact that these celebrities we all worship have no bearing on our reality, and perhaps serve as a distraction away from the people in our lives?

The greatest illusion is that we believe the problem is somewhere out there rather than within ourselves.

The greatest tragedy is that we feel so attached to stars yet so detached from our own blood.

Our daily visits to the intellectual cyber ghetto known as “Facebook” have stolen precious moments from us. Moments of temporary amusement, mindless videos of rapping canines and bacon-wrapped pizza cheeseburgers. Scraps of mental junk food and bits of meaningless information we use to fill the emptiness, the awkwardness, the moments of boredom in everyday life. The moments we will never get back.

Moving forward in 2017, I propose we surf less on Facebook and stick our faces in more books. May we spend less time mourning celebrities and more time celebrating the lives around us. And that we focus less on the problems around us and more on the solutions within ourselves.