Celebrity Jealousy

With all of the hype surrounding Jefferson Bethke's video on Jesus and Religion, I had some feelings stirring up in my heart that made me stop and reflect. Maybe it's something that you can relate to, but when sometimes I get jealous. By the post title, you may gather that I'm not talking about jealousy of other people of my so-called social status. I'm talking about "Celebrities". Do you know what I'm talking about? You see someone who gets a lot of attention for one reason or another and you want what they have.

One thing that I've noticed is that I don't struggle with jealousy of long-time famous people. I couldn't care less about what the Kardashians have and do. I have no desire to be like them and, frankly, I don't really understand why there is such a fascination with them. They're famous because their dad was a good lawyer. I don't understand why his fame should be inherited. But I digress.

“My jealousy is my selfish heart... pretending that I am owed that same renown.”

The jealousy that I struggle with is on a smaller scale, and is noticeably triggered when someone does something that doesn't seem much more exciting than what I'm doing. Part of my jealousy is completely stupid, I'll admit. If I think that I can sing well and be noticed like Scott Yoshimoto or Tyler Ward, why don't I prove it and record a cover? If I think I've got something to say, why don't I write a blog? Oh sure, I've got some things to back up and justify how I feel, but the feeling, when it comes down to it is really just selfishness and a joke. If you actually bothered to watch that cover, you'll see that we only put one up. Not because we don't like covers, but because we haven't deemed it important enough in our hearts to work at it and record more. You  might not know it, but I've had this blog for over two years, but I only had a handful of posts before I revamped it a few weeks ago.

My jealousy is my selfish heart appealing to the more depraved parts of my mind, pretending that I am owed that same renown. I haven't put in the work that other people have. I haven't spent the effort to build up the fan base or appeal to my friends and their friends. I haven't contacted publishers about a book I want to write. Shoot, I haven't even spent the $5/month to snag my own domain name. In my sinfulness, I look at someone else who has put forth effort and has been recognized for it and presume that I deserve the same laud and fanfare.

Does this seem ridiculous to anyone other than me? I know it's not uncommon. I mean, how many people have looked at Justin Bieber or Rebecca Black and said, "Dude, I can totally sing better than that"? I know that I'm guilty of that, for sure. But at the heart of the matter, it just seems dumb. Why should I think that I deserve credit for something that I haven't done?

Your Turn

What do you think? Where have you noticed celebrity jealousy in your life? Is celebrity jealousy okay just because everyone else does the same? How should we deal with celebrity jealousy? Leave a comment below and let me know!