Too famous

(a mini essay)

7/2/18

Mark Twain said he didn’t know the secret of success, but he sure knew the secret of failure: Try to please everyone - all the time.

 He was smart to use a pen name. Eventually people figured out who he was. Was Clemens the guy who didn’t want his memoirs printed until 100 years after his death? Perhaps I’m conflating him with someone else who was critical of his government.

Survive: that’s the first goal, the first commandment as it were. In some cultures, children are taught to not stand out. A jazz musician I know said he had to hide from the kids he grew up with that he was computer savvy, in his own words, “a nerd.”  My jazz friend made a bundle in BitCoin. He is also a master at knowing his audience and knowing his personal priorities. So he doesn’t knock himself out at his day job- he has plenty of energy to perform several nights a week at clubs, festivals, go on tour and record with big-name bands.

No matter what you do, someone will hate you, probably out of envy. So in some small towns, parents teach their kids to not stand out.

Problem is, some people just stand out.

Howard Hughes may have had the right idea... still, he was too famous.