How much loss of privacy or security are you willing to put up with to give what you want to give to those around you?

I am not sure how giving to the charities I give to constitutes giving up anything, other than $$$ I would probably spend of something non-essential, but as for being rich and famous, give me rich; as famous is like blindly putting your dick in a box full of rat traps. Ouch!

My life is mine to do with as I please, and being idolized by the masses is not for me. I wold rather toil along in quiet obscurity, and be admired by a select few than to be a Rock God or whatever. MJ was miserable at the end, and having the press climbing up your ass every time you step out your door is so just not worth it.

Fame is not all its cracked up to be.

Two years ago I gave up my chance at independence in order to buy my mother a house and move her in with me. I have no real “private life” at this point, everything I do impacts or reflects on her and it’s a responsibility I’m not used to as a technically single person.

When you give for the purpose of enriching someone else’s life you automatically sacrifice a small part of you (rather it is money, privacy or both). I think as long as the sacrifice isn’t something that makes you miserable the act of giving is so rewarding however over time the more you give the more likely the misery is to come in to play.
This sort of reminds me of the noble vs. humble life question asked a little while back.

I sometimes wonder about this.

While I value my privacy greatly, I also believe that a talent should not be wasted. Imagine that there is a Da Vinci, a Mozart or a Newton out there right now, but he is hiding his talent to live a private life. Isn’t this a tremendous loss to the world? Humanity benefits from people with this type of talent or genius.

To a certain degree, I think a talented person is obligated to use their talent to enrich our world. The question of whether he should use this talent at the expense of his private life is a difficult one.

I blame it on our celebrity-worshiping culture. Persons with talent should be free to express their talent without giving up their privacy. When I watch a show like TMZ, my disgust erases any feeling of desire for even a modicum of fame. The way things are now, being a celebrity is no longer desirable.

As a performer, I only wish an audience. It doesn’t have to be a huge audience, but I love the feeling that I have created something others have enjoyed. In that small sense I try to enrich our world, but if offered a chance at fame I would turn it down. I value my freedom more than adulation.

As a person, right now my most important “gift” is taking care of my family. My daughter is a senior in high school and is almost ready to take on the world, but needs my help, support and advice. My son is bipolar and needs a whole bunch of help and direction. My husband cannot drive and started dialysis this morning, so he needs not just the caregiving that I do but also emotional support. My parents are in their 80’s and need help with a variety of things right now.

I do still do a little volunteer work by watching the toddlers in the church nursery on Sundays, but someday I hope to do a lot more volunteer work, thus enriching our world in a different way.

A famous person does have a choice as to how much personal exposure they have to give to the world. Do you see Prince every-frickin’-where? Nope. He told the press to sod off in 1979. And they, for the most part, have sodded off. Any performer can live that way. Some choose not to for whatever reason.

I tried letting my son and his girlfriend, now wife, live with us, while two of my grandsons were also living here, and it turned out to be too much. It wasn’t just privacy, but also a matter of respect for other people.

I would turn 99% percent of the population into slurry for a Miata.