Good day to all of you out there enjoying the weekend. Brian Joseph Johns here of Shhhh! Digital Media.
I spent the morning working on a coding project connected to the production pipeline that I use for creating audiobook versions of my episodic series such as Era of the Spellbound and more recently, The Butterfly Dragon Heroes Of Our Own: Reimagined.
I wrote the tool in Embarcadero/Borland Delphi (an object oriented Pascal based programming language) two months ago to assist me converting the written test from my published stories into audiobooks in a timely method, however, I'm currently adding a suite of advanced features that will significantly speed up the process, while improving the over quality of the end product.
I might at some point in the near future open source the project on GitHub, as well as including a number of my other projects from over the years.
As I worked today, I also watched the movie Exorcist III (George C. Scott, Jason Miller) as an Atheist, Buddhist, Taoist with new eyes, though one who holds a cautious Catholic allegiance. This film as indicated by the title has a strong connection to religion, especially Catholicism and was born of the first film the Exorcist, back in the late 1970s, where it enjoyed overwhelming success as one of the blockbusters of that generation.
William Peter Blatty both wrote and directed this film, who also wrote the screenplay for To Live And Die In L.A., which was directed by William Friedkin, who directed the original Exorcist film.
To Live And Die In L.A. is an excellent action packed film involving a secret service agent obsessed with bringing down a counterfeiting ring, and also contains an excellent soundtrack from iconic 1980s band Wang-Chung.
Exorcist III is a very frightening movie taking some time to build up its momentum in the first two acts. The fear factor though is mostly the result of Brad Dourif's terrifying performance as one of the film's main antagonists.
Dourif is known for his work on David Lynch's original adaption of Dune, as well as turning in key iconic performances in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Star Trek: Voyager, in addition to countless other films.
Another very notable performance is by Nicol Williamson, who played Father Morning, who confronts the film's antagonist, the demon Pazuzu, armed mostly with the element water (my favourite element and the one associated with my own Zodiac sign).
Nicol originally played in the film Excalibur, perhaps the best adaption of the Arthurian legend to film, playing the role of Merlin: Arthur's mysterious mentor and teacher who guides Arthur as a squire into his future destiny.
Updates
This coming week starting from Monday, I'll be working on getting the backlog of episodes into audiobook format, between working on other coding and possibly some music projects, though I assure you that I'll have at least one new audiobook episode by next Saturday, and two more new audiobook episodes just before Thanksgiving.
New written episodes for both Era of the Spellbound and The Butterfly Dragon Reimagined will be coming soon, with Era of the Spellbound being focused on a Halloween geared episode, when young Mila, Nelony and Shaela face off for the first time against Mianamor Selembrosi, who now inhabits the body of a political consultant in Shepperton.
They'll of course be getting some help from Gallea, who like Miana, now lacks her own body, and instead co-inhabits the body of a young woman coping with the challenges of Muscular Dystrophy.
In other events, it was a very tough week in terms of "other" aspects, though I believe I managed to keep an even keel overall while standing firmly here from my home office in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Thank you to those of you whose presence as passengers on my recent path really helped to keep me rooted and firmly where I needed to be, not to mention the inspiration to work on pleroma. I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving and a feast I plan to prep for that weekend. The turkey or chicken leftovers alone should keep my cat an I fed for weeks. I haven't yet decided which of the two kinds of bird I'm going eat for that holiday, but I'm definitely grateful for the fact that I can eat, when there's so many others at this time who are fighting for their meals let alone their lives.
Perhaps this Thanksgiving is definitely a year that we need to consider this when and if we have a little extra to share, either locally with those struggling to make ends meet, or with those in another part of the war torn world who in addition to food, are also struggling for their peace and family's lives.
On The Subject Of Duality And Polarity
And finally, remember that despite the fact that I try to present a very polished presence here on Shhhh! Digital Media, that I too struggle with my composure, my restraint and my own better judgement, often expressing things in the heat of the moment that although I will never retract, can sometimes trigger others who've similarly been scathed by modern social struggles and our strong feelings about what's happening both locally and in the world around us.
I am far from being perfect, nor am I an angel of life and conduct, though at the end of every struggle I've always ended with both feet firmly in balance and where they needed to be in support of what I believe to be right.
Extremity and polarity in terms of our behaviour can be a destructive force in our lives, and can be used against us to throw us off kilter by those seeking to exploit such ends.
Think of the tug of war where one side lets go of the rope, and the other side very quickly finds themselves far to one side and on the ground. I can't stress enough how important it is to maintain a calm balance.
Even those of us who are aware of this often struggle with it immensely. Against many who are seeking to exploit the gains that extreme reaction from their adversaries will afford them in the sense of making us the laughing stock or even worse, the bad example that lets down those who were looking to us for a good example.
Part of this stems from our expectations of ourselves. Part of it from the expectations of others, and finally, our pursuit of the illusion of what we believe others expect versus what is truly ourselves and our nature. Chasing the one that denies us of our self of being is definitely a sociopathic pursuit, in the hopes of pleasing others, and in the end, ultimately pleasing nobody. There is merit in the statement: be true to yourself, however don't be true to yourself on others' terms. Be true to yourself on your own terms.
In Extremis, Equilibrium Noxium
When it comes to being destabilized into extremity and away from a position of balance, and I've often been a target of manipulation by such efforts, I've found that you can as long as you maintain your perspective by firmly hanging on, can use extremity even in the worst of your reactions to put you back on track by using that energy for productive rather than destructive ends.
However, there comes a time when in your extremity, that you have to reel yourself back in towards a position of balance, lest you fall into the abyss of your own darkness or light. Either way, it won't help you or others in the end for you to lose perspective. As I stated in Era of the Spellbound, in order to be able to see clearly, you need a bit of darkness and a bit of light. If either of them are out of balance or into the extreme, you're blind.
This metaphor applies as much to reality and our perception of things, as it does to anecdotes pertaining to our conduct, essence and being. Most people who attempt to push you into extremity, are using it as a means to exploit you or others in some way, lest they're your partner and attempting to unify the both of you as a form of balance, one taking the darkness, the other the light. A position I'd only allow for a life or romantic partner. A boundary I'd highly suggest that everyone defend with fervor. Trust and bias are both very important when it comes to such matters.
Graham Green And The Two Wolves
In the interest of honouring the recent loss of fellow Canadian Graham Greene, I'd like to bring up an anecdote that originated from Indigenous culture. This anecdote is often framed in many different ways, between two different extremes that in different versions of the story, represent very different poles of a polar duality and that often, most people overly generalize or simply haven't contemplated the anecdote fully, but like it because it sounds like wisdom, without ever truly consider it.
It took me years since the first time I heard this anecdote to understand this fact, because our concept of good and bad, of positive and negative is often skewed perceptually in ways about which we're unaware. I've tried to reconstruct this anecdote in a way that avoids the oversimplification of duality to one side is right, and the other side is wrong, because although there are many situations where ideas such as this are clear, the vast majority of life comes at us in ways that such duality is not so clearly defined and that requires us to truly consider the context and both sides.
Here's the version that I've elicited here:
Within us all, there is a constant struggle between two wolves.
One wolf is egotistical, critical, brash, intimidating, beligerent and often unwilling to compromise, while the other wolf is thoughtful, civil, diplomatic, endearing, encouraging, inspiring and compromise seeking.
The one that will win this struggle, is the one that you feed.
This anecdote, although at first glance might imply according to most people's concept of what it is to be a good human being, that the second wolf should always win, but in my humble opinion, that perspective would be incorrect, and that is why the parable is very purposely ambiguous. Not giving us a definite answer, but rather imploring us to contemplate it. In all truth, it is far better to be fair in most situations, giving in some situations, while cautious and discerning in other situations.
The truth is that we need both to survive, and that there are times when the first can be protective in situations where the second might undermine us in the interest of a particular extreme.
We're often led to believe that one extreme is the way one should lean to be a "good" person, but as life unfolds, you'll truly find that extremity in this manner is a means by which many seek to exploit others in one form or another, especially the naive.
The truth is that we need both, and that feeding one more than the other is potentially unhealthy. You need to know which one is appropriate for a given situation.
I think that this explanation does well in Graham Greene's memory, and is an appropriate way to commemorate a man who has over the course of his life and career, contributed great moments to the art of story telling. I'm certain that if he were still with us, that his version of the same story would have likely been framed in the same if not a similar manner. A bit of Shhhh! Digital Media trivia for you, is that Graham Greene inspired the character Askuwheteau (which in Ojibwe means: he who scouts). In Tales of the Sanctum, I modeled the character after his appearance to a degree, and his characterizations in film and television. I would often visualize him from his many roles when writing for the character.
In the future, when you see or hear of me in a way where I'm standing firm on my ground, perhaps fiercely unwilling to budge and perhaps ferociously so, you'll know which of the two wolves is protecting the whole. If you mostly remember the times when it was the first wolf, then at least do me the justice of recalling the many times that it was also the second.
The Mirror And Being In The Public Eye
The last topic I'll broach in this post which went over my allotted budget about ten paragraphs ago, is on the topic of being in the public eye and perhaps being somewhat of an influencer, however I use that word responsibly, in the sense of it meaning one who communicates ideas for others to contemplate and consider, rather than one who communicates absolutes that one must live by.
Keep in mind that this advice is coming from someone who started out on this particular journey (I've had a few in my life) as a writer, blogging his own short stories and novellas from a cold start (zero readers and followers), creating an unadvertised blog, that went from zero to 180,000 unique views over the course of six years. A text and graphics blog, with little if no other content, starting from May of 2012 and closing shop on that site in August 2018, at which point it became Shhhh! Digital Media with its own domain(s). From August 2018 until now, there have been 255,000 unique views from a mostly text only web experience, though recently I've expanded into the avenue of audiobooks which I publish freely on both YouTube and TikTok.
There's a vision and purpose and most certainly a direction. There always has been. This isn't a sales pitch. Its advice I wish that I had access to when I was a youth or even an adult of thirty years, that had I understood, not just known, would have saved decades. If I'd have had an understanding of these concepts, I'd be at millions of views right now and living much more comfortably with an widely expanded brand. I'd have in house artists and developers releasing new visual media content every week. The goal is to get there, but had I understood some of these aspects long ago, I'd already be there and with the team I've always wanted and currently miss. Perseverance through the thick and thin is definitely the first piece of advice I'll afford you.
This post is directed at those of you who seek to, or are already in the public eye in one form or another, as an influencer or social media personality or even a seasoned celebrity or star, and certainly directed towards those who are in the process of readying themselves for such pursuits in the future.
Be aware of what you're getting yourself into, because the spotlight, however humble the one you find yourself within might seem, can quickly become overwhelming and overbearing, and is often far from what most believe about its nature. Depending upon your "circle", those with whom you consider yourself to run, and their cohesion versus the social forces largely at play in this world, there are many things about which you should be aware.
In most cases, the vast majority of your audience and those drawn to your content want you to win. I mean, they want you to succeed, because if they're willing to give up their precious time to peruse your content, then they're willing to give you a chance and this is an investment on their part and one that they want to work out in their favour. Especially if they discover you early. That is one aspect that is in your corner. Most people are independent and free to encourage you without risk to themselves for doing so, and most people in those circumstances will offer you encouragement and often constructive criticism. These people who make up the majority of those who peruse content, online and in life in general, are the vast majority of the world. They are for all intense purposes, the kind of audience that you want to cultivate and support, to earn their support.
Early in your career, and when it becomes clear of your intent to pursue such ends as a life in the public eye, whether it be online or via other mediums, is when you'll most be at risk of encountering predatory groups who can and will attempt to trap you in one of their snares. A snare is a potentially compromising situation that they'll use from that point forward as a means to pressure you, manipulate you or even harm you and destroy your career and future. When you're on your way up, from where ever you're coming, if you have potential about you that attracts predatory groups that believe you to have a chance at success, they will find you, but if you're reading this, you're already aware of this and way ahead of the game.
Don't regard this is some kind of conspiracy or negative talk. This is absolutely the truth and despite how much you believe that the world is sunshine and roses everywhere, that there are people who will look to exploit you early on, by creating situations that they'll use to gain control over you in the future. As a group. Coordinated. Almost always when you'd never believe such a thing about other people, or that other people could even do something of that nature, is exactly when they will strike, and when they do, chances are you will have no idea. Being aware of this will help you a billion fold, but there's no guarantees that they won't slip one by on you. So be very realistic, cautious and protective of your own interests and don't sacrifice your own integrity with someone you don't yet know or have no example by which to trust them. If you feel overly intimidated by what I've just revealed, then reread the previous paragraphs to let you know that there are people who aren't part of these aspects of life, who want you to win.
Ultimately what I'm telling you, is that you'll have to rely upon yourself to watch out for your best interests. Be careful about delegating that expectation to anyone else. It can, and often will backfire on you, especially if and when the prospect of success, fame and money become involved. Predatory groups are magnetically attracted to people that they believe are on their way up. In one way, if you're attracting people of that ilk (you won't be aware of them until they get their first setup in place), chances are you are on your way up, however, predatory groups are in this to take away from your momentum, to give to the momentum of the people on their team. They'll isolate you. They'll then hermetically seal you away from the rest of the world, and you'll become the fuel for their members and essentially disappear, all while them convincing you that your ticket up will be coming in soon. It never will. When predatory groups do this to someone, they do it for keeps and any situations they've setup to hold you down or control you, they'll use without conscience or concern for your well being. Again, if that is too disconcerting for you, then reread the previous chapters to reassure you that there are the kind of people who are worth the effort of such a pursuit as an audience, but you have to watch out for this other side, because they destroy lives. If I thought I couldn't save just one person from it, I wouldn't have said a thing. Be aware of this.
Consider the factors involving how you're going to make a living and support yourself, while you're building this aspect of your life. Be realistic. You have to have a roof over your head, and you have to eat and sleep, all the while you're building this aspect of your life. How you build your future and how you support yourself are very important considerations to moving forward and that includes how your brand (you or your content in most cases) is going to earn you a living. If on YouTube, that entails, achieving getting monetized and growing your audience enough to generate ad revenue and perhaps merchandising of some form, or having another gig you do to support yourself. Don't mix yourself up with people whose values and lifestyle don't match what you're willing to do for a living, or whose lifestyle or values won't accept what you're seeking to do. Some people for instance, don't support the military or birthdays or other aspects of society, that if they take an interest in you, and start supporting you by hiring you through businesses in their circle, the moment you do something that goes against their grain (like celebrating a birthday or holiday), you might find yourself without support. I know this sounds a bit far fetched, but such groups often attempt to infer themselves into the lives of ambitious people.
They'd see people like you as a future investment, keeping in mind that if they have strict rules about their lives, that they'll expect you to adhere to those same rules if you should happen to find yourself supported by their circle. When you become dependent upon such groups, you're at their mercy, and from the moment you stray from their values, doing something that might seem perfectly natural to you, they'll pull the rug out from under your feet, and if that's how you're supporting yourself, you'll quickly find yourself in difficulty. Be aware, and never build your foundation as being codependent upon the ideals of a circle whose values are different from your own. Gravitate towards those whose goals and interests and values are most like your own, but never leave yourself dependent upon any circle, for its a power over your life that nobody else should have. Keep this in mind and work towards the ends of independence in that regard. If again my advice is disheartening and seems that I'm indicating things that are negative and unproductive to your future, read the first few paragraphs again to remind you that there are people of that circle who you want as your audience, and that you'll mutually enrich each others' lives. Life is like sunshine and flowers much of the time, however you have to watch out for the horns and the thorns.
There are many professionals out there who are serious about this way of life, but there are also many who are predatory in ways about which you have to be aware. The professionals are often very familiar with all aspects in that manner, but in terms of their future and career, they are focused on their goals and the end product. If they're someone with whom you potentially might form alliances with, perhaps skill sharing in some form to produce your content or further your brand, then professionalism is your best friend. Focus on your plans, your goals and the process by which you're going make them happen. Taking this process and streamlining it in such a way that it becomes second nature to you, and enables you to increase the efficiency with which you post content, whatever that may be. Improve it by networking with professionals pertinent to whatever it is that you're doing and continue to positively grow it from there until the numbers that you're inevitably keeping an eye on to measure your progress are growing in accordance with your content. There are many online resources that get in depth into analytics and the connection between your content and your growth. Those articles are beyond the scope of this post.
When you start attracting an audience, depending upon where you live and who your audience is, you're going to attract attention to yourself and this attention can come at you in many different forms. Some of them beneficial and some of them not so much. You need to be aware of either and what to watch out for that might help you grow your audience, and what might be a predatory group looking to cause harm to you in one form or another. Once your audience grows to a certain point, and awareness starts to become a factor in your life, depending upon the nature of your surroundings and your relationship with the people around you, you're going to be noticed by people. Both online, where most people have no idea who you are locally, but have an impression of you that is based almost entirely upon your marketing, presentation and the analytics of your online habits, though most people don't have access to that, although some can gain it and might if there's incentive enough for them to do so. That could lead to to more business contacts such as for product sponsorship, which is another way to form strategic business alliances. Most people online won't know you, even if they were aware of your online presence and you suddenly walked by them on the street. Its a layer of anonymity and one that can actually work in your interest to protect you, even when your online presence is immensely popular. In most cases, people won't correlate the online you with the real you, and if you're starting to get popular, then you'll start to have impostors. People who wear your online identity as if you were them, though most of these struggles will pertain to your online identity and presence. When local interest in you starts to increase and awareness of you grows, then that's when you have to start being careful, depending upon your associations and people in your community and the nature of their interest. Did I tell you about predatory groups?
What you do has value to people, even if they can't take your money from you, the impression of being the person who does what you do has value and this value is the target of a host of predatory groups that operate throughout society. Imagine a barter system where your identity, and your output is a currency and that wearing the responsibility for your output and identity has value to other people, depending upon your fame and notoriety and the overall "karma" of what you do. This aspect of you in your being in the locality of where ever you live, has value to other people, enough so that there are organized groups, predatory in nature who will collaborate and cooperate to take that identity and the credit for your efforts away from you and award them to someone else, based upon a variety of factors they utilize to justify taking them away from you and giving them to someone else. Consider it like a game of musical chairs, except replace the chairs, with identities from your local community, and that in these communities where this sort of predatory activity occurs, that your identity is going to become part of a pool in this barter system where people compete to wear it, and you compete to earn it back, or dodge the worst identity in the community.
That isn't to say that a bad reputation or having had a difficult life should be something that encourages people to view someone whose had difficulty with such shallow disdain, but in all honesty, such practices as this predatory identity switching practice in the communities it occurs leads to this sort of stigmatization, and the people who switch identities with you will make the one that you end up with as a replacement, very heavy for you in ways that are difficult to describe in words alone. Wearing your identity will lead to other people being treated with great affection and kindness if your efforts yield goodness. So your hard work and effort is essentially stolen and worn by someone else, and that is the nature of their scam and the treachery and trickery that leads to them taking it from you. You truly have to live it to understand, but living it isn't something I'd want to see of anyone working hard on building their life and future honestly, but these predatory groups do not operate that way at all. Realistically, these groups are an ever growing aspect of life, as more and more people become addicted to the practice and faulty social architecture they represent. Until enough people in the communities they've setup shop stand against them, they'll likely continue to grow and in such a case, you need to evaluate your situation carefully as your audience grows. Do you adjust and try to cope, or do you relocate as you grow, and hope that your new location doesn't have similar activity? Where ever you end up, chances are your identity will not be your own, and in the hands of predatory groups who are ever growing to epidemic proportions. Harden your shell and insulate yourself the best that you can because when who you are and what you do have enough value, it can and will be stolen from you on a daily basis. Again, reread the positives at the top of this section to feel a little bit better about your goals and the good with pursuing these goals in your life and career.
As you become more popular, people in your vicinity who make up the members of these predatory groups will look at you less as yourself, and look at you as if you are one of them. That is, they operate under the idea that the creativity of whatever it is that you're doing, doesn't originate from you, and they've turned this aspect into a social competition as well, attempting on a daily basis to take it away from you, and attribute it to members of their predatory groups.
You see, most of these groups don't even look at other people or enjoy their content because they like the person creating it. They're interested in it because they're a part of predatory groups who've convinced themselves that everything that other people do is because of them and some form of influence they believe that they excerpt over people who are in the public eye, whom many of these predatory groups believe do not have their own mind, or a mind at all that doesn't come from one of their predatory group members. They literally are looking at you as if you're not yourself, but them, or the other members of their predatory group. They're infatuated with nobody but themselves and their members.
When they're perusing your content, their first goal is to convince other people that it originated from them, or other members of their predatory group, and that you are not yourself, but instead possessed or being puppeteered by them. That's about it.
They're interested in you not because of you, but because to them, you're like a mirror. They believe that you have no mind of your own, and that your ability to do whatever it is that you're doing, originated from them. This is something that they're addicted to doing to other people and something for which they've setup a network of people in communities that target people who end up in the public eye in some way shape or form, and basically attribute all of their effort to other people that are members of their predatory group.
Still interested in the becoming one of the people in the public eye?
We've hit rock bottom, and this is one of the most horrific if not disgusting aspects about being in the public eye. Predatory groups like this exist in communities, and almost operate with the impunity or organized crime where they're rampant and this is not a word of a lie. Even in the midst of the most advanced democracies in the west, in the richest of cities in North America, this activity is rampant.
They're not interested in you at all. They're interested in the fact that you validate their sense of being and existence by the fact that they believe that everything that you achieve, your creativity and ability to do whatever it is you're doing, exists only because of them. You don't have a mind. You're just someone who somehow inherited their weight, for which they look for clues in your content or behaviour of your trying to get rid of it in some way. When they see the evidence of this in your content, they wear that as an indication of their influence over you, and it validates their existence. Like a narcissist.
Remember when I said earlier on, that when you're on your way up, that there are groups who will attempt to setup situations that they can later use to harm you or manipulate you or to destroy your career?
Right at the beginning, when you're naive is when they'll set these situations up and they'll be the means by which they destroy you. At this point and just before you're about to hit the big time, that's when these situations and their purpose will become apparent, because think of them as being like a curse, put on you to stop you dead in your tracks right before you break through.
To crush you and stop your progress. To label you in ways that don't apply because by the time these situations have built up enough momentum, they're ulimately devastating to your life, reputation and career. Not only that, but these predatory groups? They had a goal all along that entails that their groups, both at the bottom and at the top, will remove these potentially unflattering situations from your life, for a price. That's right. The entire thing is a scam. Create setups and damaging situations that are removed from your person in a way that is paid for from your own efforts. They'll remove the situation from you, but you'll pay for it by giving them the credit for some of your content or something you achieved that contributed to launching you into your pre-success trajectory. Not only that, but the more that you achieve, the more situations they'll create, and the more they'll load you up with, and the more they'll charge you for removing it from you.
Still want fame and fortune?
The people who initially you had intentions of helping and for whom you intended to do the right thing. The ones at or very close to the bottom. They helped these predatory groups to create these situations. They helped to dump more and more of other people's situations onto you and turned it into a micro-economy of charging you a price to remove these aspects of setups and situations, many of them having little or nothing to do with your life, but being purposefully made to be very, very heavy to you by the way of how you're treated by others, well they charge you a price to remove these situations from you. The people who put them there. Others at all different walks of life. The people near the top, who, you for the most part assumed could never be a part of any such thing themselves because you assumed most of them to be victims of the same or similar things. Well low and behold, they get in on it too.
Then, just to make sure that you're on the same page, they might watch your social media and phone activities very closely to get an impression about you. Whose videos you like and whose you dislike. Whose community posts you thumbs up and whose you don't. They turn the whole thing into a sort of a fish bowl of your life and media habits and that further becomes a pressure cooker they use to stir things up, by once again charging you a price to remove these aspects from your person which are paid for out of your effort and the things that made your content (not you) popular, because so far, most of the world and people who enjoy what you do, won't even acknowledge the fact that you exist. That's right. Everything you do and accomplish is being siphoned and given to someone else's credit while you're treated as if you aren't yourself, but rather someone else. You don't even exist to these people, let alone what they'll do to anyone who refers to you by your own name. You disappear, and everything you do goes to fuel the lives and credit of other people. Even my having written this post, or previous posts. All of it unfortunately is given to the credit of other people for things as crazy as my Sun Sign (Scorpio) and because its night and I'm writing this, my Moon sign (Taurus). Ironic what predatory groups will do, though I've never had problems with Scorpios on this issue.
Still want the fame and fortune for which you've been working so hard?
At this point, most of what you've probably been chasing might seem to have lost its lustre, depending upon what you were chasing. If you were seeking validation through the admiration of others, then chances are you need to work on yourself, because validation should come from you and your belief in yourself and what you do. People can see through it when you're seeking their validation to fill your esteem and self confidence.
The fortune? Well, most people aiming for that lifestyle work most of their early lives, up until their twenties or thirties struggling to make ends meet and its only a very, very small few who get discovered, or break through and make it into the public eye on a scale that nets them a financial fortune and net worth. Many, many more people with the same or similar goals, struggle their entire life, most never achieving the fortune they'd so hoped to achieve.
When you see a famous and financial success. A popular influencer, celebrity or star? You're seeing the exception rather than the rule, but almost all of those people who did it. Who broke through and made it to the heights of their goals, all did it not because of the validation they could get from fans, or the money. They did it because there was something in them that drove them to keep doing it, no matter how hard things got and no matter how rought the storms that life could throw at them were.
They did it through many macaroni and cheese dinners. They did it through weeks of instant noodle breakfast lunch and dinner. They did it not because of what they could get from it, though I'm certain that was an aspect in their motivations, I'm also certain that it wasn't the primary motivation.
They did it because they had something to share. Something so deep and powerful within them, that they literally had no choice. Most of them, regardless of the other caveats and traps set by predatory groups and treacherous circumstances kept going, taking each of those lessons with a grain of salt. What better warning in life is there when you know people for their best, and certainly their worst. Most of those people who faced all of that, and still kept their chin up, could look any one of those predatory people in the face, and truly know them for the first time. I'd be willing to bet those people though, after knowing their contribution to such a person's experience, could never look at themselves in the mirror ever again. That's why they look to other people to find validation in themselves by their belief that those they victimized have no mind of their own. Its like they can't look at themselves in a mirror, but they can admire themselves after knowing the effect they had upon someone else by using them as a sort of mirror of their narcissistic selves. No matter how much they convince themselves or no matter what they do to undo that, they won't ever be able to wipe it from their soul.
The person they did it to, kept going regardless and in the end, they truly had little or no effect at all, compared to people like the greatest loves of their lives. The truly inspiring moments that motivated them to say thank you to the people that affected their lives in a way that gave them the momentum to go for it.
To the sense of accomplishment one feels when they create something that moves someone else to fits of laughter, or a drought of tears. To feel the extremes of what it is to live and be alive the many ways that affects us all.
And then to realize that at the end of it all, the audience they found was the same one from the beginning of this section of the post. The audience that wants you to win. They want you to succeed because if they didn't, they'd have never invested their time in checking out your content or your brand or whatever it is that you do in the first place. Best of all, if they got their foot in the door early and checked you out way back at the beginning, then I bet they have a story to tell of their own about the one who made it and just how far they went to get there.
Please. Heed my advice. It might open doors for you some day.
I am Brian Joseph Johns and this is Shhhh! Digital Media at https://www.shhhhdigital.com or https://www.shhhhdigital.ca in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701.
This content is entirely produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701 under the Shhhh! Digital Media banner.
This content is entirely produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701 under the Shhhh! Digital Media banner.
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200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701
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Inquiries: brian.joseph.johns@shhhhdigital.com, info@shhhhdigital.com
Copyright © 2025 Brian Joseph Johns
Produced at Shhhh! Digital Media
200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Inquiries: brian.joseph.johns@shhhhdigital.com, info@shhhhdigital.com