fame according to rick rubin

I was with this group of friends. We were having dinner at Mr. Chow's in Beverly Hills. When we got there, you almost couldn't get in the door because there were so many paparazzi outside -- so many that there were fire trucks out there, you know, trying to manage the crowd. We're sitting at dinner, and the red lights from the fire trucks are lighting up the whole restaurant. It felt like a scene from a war movie. It was insane. I was with these three other people. And we started trying to figure out who was creating this scene. We'd all been to Mr. Chow's a lot of times, but we'd never seen anything like this. It was about the time of the Coachella music festival. Madonna had played Coachella, so we're thinking, Maybe it's Madonna. I mean, she doesn't live here, so she's not around that much. Maybe it could be her causing so much attention. From there, we just kept throwing out names, trying to figure out who it could be. Finally, I got up from the table and I went to find out. And then I came back and I asked my friends, "Do you want me to tell you who it is, or do you want to try to guess?" And someone said, "Okay, let's play twenty questions." So the first question was, "Is this person famous for being a musical artist?" And I had to think about it. I didn't know how to answer that question. I think she's made music. She's made albums. But is she famous for that? I don't think so. So I decided the answer was no. And then someone asked, "Is this person famous for being a film star?" Hmm. I didn't know how to answer that question, either. Yes, she's been in films. But is that what she's famous for? I didn't think so, so I decided that answer was also no. And this went on for twenty questions. And the answers were all no. Everybody lost the game -- no one could say who it was. Here we were in Mr. Chow's, and literally, it was like World War III had broken out. And when I really thought about it, this person causing it wasn't famous for anything that you could really put your finger on. It was an interesting comment on our society.*

*It was Jessica Simpson.

warning: obnoxious heavy handed symbolic imagery/metaphor

I read often and thoughtfully. Yet it seems that very little sticks to me, lingers at the bottom of my shoe until I get aggravated enough to pull it off and examine the little bugger.

One of those buggers is an idea that a scientist put forward. Eternal life isn't a possibility for humankind because we breathe. Think of ourselves as candles. The oxygen we need to survive contributes to our doom, our wax waning year after year. What sustains us, destroys us.

I often wonder if our proverbial flame is why we feel the need to push ourselves forward in the events of our lives. Childhood then leads to the heartbreak of teenage life which leads to the bacchanalian college years which buckle down to the shackles of work which soften to the domestic comforts of marriage which encourages the repetition of the cycle by introducing a baby, repeat. All of our huffing and puffing at the flame to make it rise higher, burn brighter and faster than the rest. The fire of our lives consume us to the point where we need doctors/psychiatrists/yogis to tell us to slow down. Remind ourselves of the temporality of the flame. Breathe in. Breathe out. Slowly. Thoughtfully.

Yet I cannot deny the allure of the fast life, the fast light, if I'm going to continue hammering this cliched metaphor. The consumption of all that is now. The swiftly streaming and gliding past events and moments that a minute later I feel nostalgic about. In a perverse way, the burn reminds me of my aliveness, my nowness, and temporary tragic notion that all you know and all you are will eventually crumble and wash away, ash in the wind.

Even Jon knew this. At 17 he writes, "There's more to life than increasing it's speed. I hope everyone thinks that, because I do, but just like everyone else I forget about it and let my life get way too sped up and in it. We all need something to slow us down."Which leaves me wondering, what's worth more- a life consumed quickly or that one with a slow burn?