By Efe Omorogbe
I woke up on Sunday, February 12, 2012 to the sad news about the death of one of music’s most revered performers, Whitney Houston. She occupied a special place in my heart. Her music was the soundtrack to some of the most magical and turbulent periods of my life and I profoundly admired her work and appreciated the gift she was to millions of adoring fans world over.
Whitney’s death was particularly tragic because I for one had anticipated a triumphant comeback of mythical proportions. Her 2009 release I Look to You didn’t quite do it for me. The buzz was heavy, expectations were sky high but it fizzled out all too quickly. She didn’t do a Carlos Santana – as in, clean up her act, drop a truly supernatural album, dominate the charts for months, sweep all the major awards and proceed on a long and lucrative tour afterwards.
It was like a false start but it reminded us she was still alive, still around and still trying very hard to reclaim her life and career. So I waited, anticipated and prayed the greatest voice of all would ride the storm and find her gusto once again. That she would go on to enchant and endure and provide for billions of people, regular and privileged, a beacon of inspiration, a living testimony of the astounding resilience of the human spirit.
But it wasn’t to be. Sadly, it ended before that glorious chapter opened but Whitney was on the way. And that is a lot. A huge lot to take solace from. May her soul find eternal peace. Amen!
I’ve never been one to place more emphasis on the number of years a person spends on earth over the measure of positive impact one makes while alive. As the saying goes – it is not the size of the dog in the fight but the fight in the dog that counts. Some of the greatest personalities in history have died young – mostly under 40 – Bruce Lee (32), 2pac (25), Bob Marley (36), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (39) even the Lord Jesus we are told, died at just 33. While one is by no means, promoting the phenomenon of dying young, it is instructive to note that the impact made by some of these personalities have significantly shaped the thought processes of today, and these influences will linger for quite some time to come.
Not every phenomenon will enjoy the longevity of a Nelson Mandela or Mohammed Ali (against all odds), but a great number of them, particularly entertainers, can do a lot better job at self-preservation. I don’t have the stats, but exceptionally gifted people and celebs seem more vulnerable to self-destruction than the average person. Most of them are rich, famous and adored by millions, and in the eyes for the average Joe, theirs is the level to aspire to, the life to have.
In many cases, the picture isn’t quite as pretty from close quarters. These hugely successful superstars that make the rest of the world feel like God must have been given them more than their fair share of talent and favour, are more insecure and self-loathing than the regular guy living on minimum wage. Then, seemingly “well-meaning” friends, family and business associates create a circus around this star and stir up so much dust that when he or she looks in the mirror, the vision is clouded and the image is blurred.
These destructive habits tend to provide a desperately needed escape, and the pressures of the ugly reality provokes a need for more frequent and increasingly protracted escape until the superstar escapes completely from reality – the reality that being a star isn’t a job but the compensation for job exceedingly well done; the reality that the bills will keep coming and money has to be well managed for certain living standards to be maintained; the reality that one can’t always hit the mark and that that as there are highs, there will be lows; the reality that rivals are forever working and no one person has the monopoly of good fortune.
Life is hard, even for a superstar, and stress is real, but my belief is that one always has an opening, however tiny, to come correct and preserve one’s mind, body and soul. Except of course, one is fascinated with the yearning to live fast and die young.
