those who live outside a glass house

being famous is like living in a glass house with cameras on each corner of the house.

if you yell at another human; a narcissist is in the instagram comment telling you “you’re a piece of shit”

if you insult someone; an abusive partner is tagging you on instagram story “you’re actually a very sad fellow. Donut brain!!”

if you tell lies, an unrepentant yet-to-be-caught cheating individual is in the comment saying “people like you are the reason why trust is so hard these days”

fame will have you sentenced to prison by a judge who can’t stand her reflection in you.

these words by justin bieber on FAME, caught my attention as i read through Alex Lewis recent piece “AM I THE ONLY ONE?”

one of the things that scares me is blowing up overnight. Becoming famous, whether it’s from more people reading my essays, watching my TikTok, or even something random.

just this week, at work, my coworker asked “do you know AC/DC?”

honest to God, i thought she was asking about electricity and was about to teach me a few things on the subject.

she laughed off my reaction and made it clear she was referring to a popular rock band whom i knew and still don’t know nothing about. (please don’t throw rocks at me🙏🏽)

she couldn’t believe her eyes and ears. She immediately regretted not capturing me on camera so she could put it on facebook to make me famous. I can already imagine the disgust in the faces of their fans when they see my ignorant self.

And like she envisioned, i would probably have experienced fame.

fame has always sat with me in a strange way.

i think about how people like J.B who are already famous process their emotions, especially when everything they go through is happening in public.

it’s why, through the art I share, I find myself feeling more empathetic toward creators or anyone in the public eye who gets negative attention. Whether it’s for something they said or something they did.

“…..it starts to make me feel like i’m the only one with issues”.

And that has to really suck!

to feel like your shortcoming is the front page of CNN and a bestseller on twitter’s trend table just because you live in a fucking glass house!!

if I ever become famous, whether from a random moment like the AC/DC recording that never happened or something I wrote catching bullets, I think I’d be more curious than angry.

curious to read the comments from people who think they know me. At least, not enough like my immediate family—even when i don’t know myself.

those who live outside a glass house should not throw stones either but we both know it don’t work that way.