Monday, May 7, 2012

Too many balls in the air?

by carol


Life is a juggling act for all of us. At times it is impossible to keep all the balls in the air. Celebrities have an additional ball to deal with. 

Few celebrities master the delicate balance of separating their public and personal lives, and to some extent, they are not to blame. Celebrity publicists and spin doctors work around the clock to manipulate the media, catapulting struggling artists into superstardom and forever changing their lives. Once an artist becomes popular, every aspect of their lives is dissected, and media outlets dig shamelessly for background and lifestyle information.
"As I’ve gone on, I’ve become more guarded about what’s personal and what’s public, and I’ve become smarter about how I protect myself and my family. Deb and I protect each other and the family before anything. That’s the priority." Hugh Jackman
Some celebrities manage to maintain distance between the press and their privacy. Generally, these are artists who have risen to the level where just their association with a project guarantees its success, or those who have regained control of their lives from the spin doctors. They spend more time honing their craft, than in competing for magazine covers, and it is they whose careers last well beyond the media blitz.

There comes a time when they must decide between being a celebrity, and the things that are important to them. Many young celebrities yearn for the spotlight, until something devastating happens in their lives. It is important that when they achieve a certain level of celebrity, that they begin to take those steps necessary to establish how they want their lives to be in the future. If an artist achieves fulfillment from their work, and not the facade of their celebrity, they'll have a much better chance of having a balanced life.

“You use your money to buy privacy because during most of your life you aren`t allowed to be normal.” Johnny Depp
 
The first and most common way of dealing with public life is to cut oneself off from it. Fame often comes with a great deal of money, which a celebrity can use to wall himself off from an overly intrusive public. He can buy a home in a gated community, take his kids to a private school, hire bodyguards to protect him when he goes out, and use personal assistants to run errands such as shopping. Some keep a sharp eye on the line between their public and private lives, and ensure that it never gets crossed. They will stipulate that certain interview questions never be asked, they will keep their family clear of paparazzi or public events, and they will not seek out interviews or exposure except when it relates to projects they are involved in.
     "You can have it all, but not all at the same time. How important it is to take very good care of yourself, of your mental and physical and spiritual well being, it's hard to do.
     "It's easier to be a workaholic than to have a truly balanced life. It's very tough teetering on that tight rope of balance and balancing too many responsibilities." Quentin Bryce

1 comment:

  1. Last year December this sentence refrained in my mind whenever I thought of Alex: "I know you say you can juggle anything, but I think you have too many balls in the air already and you are taking on even more. Hope you have a good support system to help you carry the load."
    Carrying the weight and responsability of being no 1 on the call sheet of the show, working such long hours, announcing a new love in his life (with a family attached) & taking up even more responsability with is own child, just looked like a lot to me for a single man to handle. Add to that the increased demand for attention and information for a fanbase that is growing every day.....
    Glad to see he got help and hope the help will continue - we would love to see many more years of him and his work in the entertainment industry!

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