I Blog Poetry and Prose

Celebrating Famous Birthdays

Fiḍál Grace), 8 ‘Ilm (Knowledge) 175 B.E. - Tuesday, October 23, 2018

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30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS  (13+) WDC's Longest Running Blog Competition - Hiatus #1786069 by Fivesixer

Choose a Famous Birthday   for today and tell us why you think they should be celebrated.

Celebrating Famous Birthday

I have no objection to celebrities friends, families, or fans celebrating their birthday. I don't think any celebrities birthday should be celebrated by the general public. I don't follow celebrities or make a practice of reading celebrity news. I believe celebrities have a right to a personal life, and birthdays are a personal matter. Some celebrities enjoy big parties, with a lot of publicity. Some of them, I suspect, would prefer a small gathering of close personal friends and associates. I went through the "crazy over celebrities" phase as a preteen and teenager. I out grew that somewhere between my eighteenth and twentieth birthdays.

I don't care to "follow them" on Facebook or any other social network. I will read articles about them, if the headline catches my eye and arouses my curiosity. If the celebrity admits dealing with alcoholism, drug addiction, sexual harassment, or a devastating illness--such as Alzheimer's disease, mental illness, or cancer--I have more respect for them. When a celebrity admits to confronting these issues, it focuses publicity on these illnesses, and publicity means ordinary people will be more willing to admit they deal with these problems in their families.

With certain exceptions, I have more respect for celebrities, who acknowledge their religion or spiritual path publicly. The exception in this case concerns their actions, and the way those actions reflect on their chosen faith or spiritual path. While a celebrity can't always choose screen roles that reflect their spiritual path, they can choose the way they act off screen, which is a good indication of what they believe. However, it isn't up to me to judge a celebrity or anyone else; the only thing I can do is to remember them in my prayers.