Too much

So much is bandied about these days about people who say that they suffer from depression and anxiety. It almost seems inevitable that a well known celebrity will tearfully admit after an indiscretion has been unearthed that they blame it on their depression in a time when they said were to be “at their lowest”.

I have heard many ‘youtubers’ openly admit that when they were going through their teenage years they suffered from depression or self-harm in one for or another. Somehow that depression is miraculously cured and life to them is nothing but a rose garden.

I have the utmost respect for Stephen Fry who is open about his mental health issues. He seems to carry a mantel of hope and yet utter realism when it comes to coping with this disease.

At the moment I couldn’t care less if I lived or died. Some people haven’t the ability to comprehend the enormity and seriousness of the disease. Some see it just as an excuse to either whinge or be negative. All I ask is support. Someone wouldn’t openly criticise if another had been suffering from cancer or another serious disease.

Rolf et al

Everyone has an opinion on these cases. None more so on Rolf. I am still trying to get my head around it. Someone who has been in front of you as a prominent entertainer throughout your childhood isn’t the person who you thought they were.

The thought of the person who is be be feared was always the stranger in the park. The one who is unknown to us. Never could I have imagined that it would have been the kindly avuncular character I used to watch for twenty minutes before the news.

Expectations and outcomes they always seem to surprise us and catch us off-guard. But the test of a character is how we react to these changes. I couldn’t imagine myself screaming and banging on the side of a security van, a scene we often see when high profile cases are reported. I do expect those who have committed offences to be punished in the correct manner.

I used to teach a pupil who has appeared in court charged with causing the death of three people by dangerous driving. My reaction to this is utter revulsion for his crime but sympathy for those families and friends who have been affected by this persons actions.

The courts are there to do a job. It is a stark reminder of the world we live in. Making sense of this world to me seems to be more complex as time goes on.

Celebrity

I am struggling with the term “Celebrity” at the moment. I am having a hard time getting my head around what it means to be actually famous. So I thought about looking at the actual definition of the word. It’s origins lie in someone who is honoured or celebrated.

If I am widely known does that make me a celebrity? I am sure people wouldn’t consider someone like the serial killer Dr Harold Shipman as a celebrity when he was alive. So notoriety and knowledge of a particular person do not make them one. The minute that someone is placed on a talent show, broadcast on mainstream television, some think that they are a celebrity.  To me, they are not.

Look at what so-called celebrities have achieved. You have auditioned and failed to win. You haven’t achieved anything. I certainly will think again when someone considers themselves to be a celebrity. I will start first with what they have given to society and is it worth celebrating.