121 What is a Celebrity, Pt. 1

Transcript:

Hey, welcome to The Abundant Artist, a podcast for creatives looking to create more abundance in their lives- more happiness, more results, more money. I'm Whitney Uland. I'm an actor, writer, and certified life coach, and I'm going to show you exactly how to start feeling better and how to go after your creative ambitions.

Hello, wonderful artists. I hope that you are having an amazing day whenever you're listening to this. So what I'm going to be talking about today is, again, celebrity. And we're just gonna keep defining it. It has been so fun as I've been coaching my clients on this. One of my favorite things in the whole world happens, which is when someone is like, this actually really triggered me. And so I wanna get coaching on it. And I just wanna say that is like the best place to be in. It's Such a powerful place. And I'm just so proud of my clients when they do show up in this way and are able to say like, this is triggering me and I'm going to lean in because that clearly means that there's some block in my psyche or something that is upsetting to me, and I just wanna get curious about it, right?

And I wanna see if, you know, and of course with coaching, it's like there's always the opportunity for you to take anything that I say and let it go, right? And say, that actually is not for me, that doesn't serve me. I like to think of coaching, oftentimes, it's kind of like how I love using a coin to make a decision. And I don't actually let the coin make the decision, but what I do is when I flip a coin and it lands on heads, and I was hoping for tails, it reveals to me my emotional response and it reveals how I actually think and how I actually feel. And so sometimes I believe that it's actually very important to be triggered even if we decide that something is not for us, because it just reveals our truth more and reveals more about ourselves and where we stand. And as an artist, I've said this for years, and ever since I decided to become a life coach, that I'm not your guru. I am your coach. And this work is about empowering you to make your best decisions. And like, I wanna be known for my art more than like being the next like Tony Robbins or whatever. And so I think it's really important to just continue coaching y'all and bringing these things to the conversation even, and especially when they trigger you so that we can explore it and see what lands and what doesn't.

But I wanna offer my definition today on celebrity. And I have a few thoughts in mind. So the first thing is that I was reading this book about celebrity, and just to be clear, it's a terrible book. I'm not even going to drop the title because I hate it that much. Because while it is an exploration of celebrity, it still comes back to this idea that celebrity is bad and that people who desire it are vain and egotistical and like trying to get power for the wrong reasons and all these things. And I'm just like, that is not true. And like this is being talked about by someone who has never even experienced celebrity or fame themselves. It's written by an academic. And I just, I honestly couldn't finish it because as I was reading it, it was like every single paragraph at the end, it would be like, but don't make this your mission because then you'll lose sight of your priorities. And I'm just like, I call bullshit on that. Like, I just don't think that that is true at all. I'm gonna say this until I'm blue in the face, but celebrity is just a persona. It is just the energy that you develop of believing in yourself and of believing that your opinions matter. And then fame is just the resource, a currency. It's just people's attention. And you can use that for really good things. And that's what we're going to talk about today.

So one of the things that I did pick from this book is that they talked about how celebrity is someone who doesn't have to live by the conventional standards of society or the conventional rules of society. And the author was really painting this in a negative picture, right? They were talking about how, you know, there are celebrities who, I was just listening to this. And this goes along with wealth as well, but often fame and wealth go together because they're both just energy and they're both power. So I was watching the Bernie Madoff documentary. I love documentary about white collar crime <laugh> and about fraud. It's so fascinating to me. And the reason that I've gotten into this and like really done this deep dive on this and exploring this topic is because I've just been so curious, like, what comes first? Does the bad intention come first or does the exploitation of people, like once they have power? And it can be a little, I think it's painted as it's the chicken or the egg, but the more that I study this, the more I don't think that is true whatsoever. And so, anyway, I'm watching the Bernie Madoff documentary, and they're talking about how, you know, he did fraud. Like he had the largest Ponzi scheme in the history of the world. It was something like 33 billion, I think? Or maybe it was even more. I could be like completely making that number up, but it was definitely in the billions. It was more than a one digit number. It was, I wanna say it was like 300 billion. Like, it was something crazy. I think that's right. I feel like it was like he made up and people thought that there was 300 billion when actually there was only 19 billion or something crazy like that. You know, just a mere 19 billion. But they were talking about when he basically just turned himself in and he was like, I can't do this anymore. Like, this is exhausting and turned himself into his family, and then his family had to be the ones to like call the FBI and be like, um, yo, our dad is frauding all of these people. So then they go on to talk about how when he went to, you know, the authorities came and they come to his, penthouse beautiful Manhattan apartment, and he like also had a private helicopter and, you know, all of the things. And they got there and they just were like very calmly like explaining the process. And they're like, why don't you get into some comfy clothes? Like, take off your belt. You're not gonna be allowed to wear your watch. And his wife was just like sitting there and then he went and I think his bail was like 10 million or something, and so he just like paid it and then went home while awaiting his court date. And so when you look at that, and again, that was purchased with money, not fame, but with notoriety, right? I think that it paints the picture that like, when people have influence, they don't always have to live by the same rules or have the same like repercussions that most people do, the same consequences that people do when they make bad decisions. And so I think because of that, when we think of celebrity, when you think of someone who doesn't have to live by the conventional standards of society, that is a negative thing.

And I think that's where the author of this book is just like, you gotta be careful. You can't become famous because then... Or I don't know, just talking bad, or I've even posted something on, you know, I've been talking about this a lot on TikTok, and I had someone who was like, we don't need more celebrities. And I totally rally against that idea. I think that's bullshit. Because again, I believe that fame is just going to make you of more of who you are. And if you are lost or you are hurt, or you are exploitative or you are ill-seeking or trying to seek revenge, then yes, you are going to use your fame to hurt people. But if you are a well-intended person who wants to make the world a better place, then you can just use that fame to shine light on things that are really important to you.

And so I think, when we have this idea that a celebrity is someone who doesn't live by conventional standards, they were also just talking about how, when someone is famous, then often we value their opinions in things other than what they're famous for, right? So we'll listen to celebrity's opinions about politics or climate change or things like that, even though they're known for their art. And this was painting that as a negative thing. But I don't know. I just, I wanna offer, if you look around, and we say, you know, a celebrity is someone who doesn't live by the conventional standards of society, I would argue that our society's fucked right now. And like, I don't think that we should be advocating for more people to have to fall in line to those standards. And I think that of course, like systemic things need to be happening and things need to be changing. But the difference that you can make, the difference that I can make as an individual is to break those rules and to say, you know what? This, this is bullshit. I'm actually going to be the exception to this rule. It's that mindset. I get to be the exception. And I know that that sounds like entitlement, but it's actually an act of bravery when you're going against the largest systems that are set up to oppress people. When we're looking at capitalism, racism, sexism, homophobia, all of those things. And if you are saying that who you are as a being is going to reject those and go against that, we need more people like that. And so again, my argument is that, if you are listening to this podcast, we actually need you to be famous. And you get to decide what that is, how you want to use your fame, what you want to be known for. What you want to use your platform for, what kind of platform that you want.

But I would argue that if you're an artist and you are for breaking the rules or showing a different side of humanity, then we actually really need you to have a platform. And we need you to balance out the Bernie Madoffs in the world. And I really believe that it is your responsibility and your duty to create as much fame and as much celebrity as you possibly can. I was thinking about my life the other day, and I was looking around. We had this beautiful morning, it was a slow morning. My husband made us this beautiful like avocado toast. And we were introducing avocado toast to our baby for the first time, and we were relaxing, and we were enjoying our morning together. And it just was this moment of being like, holy shit, this is a life that I created by going against the rules, the "rules." Something that's been a big struggle for me is I don't have anyone forging the path ahead of me doing exactly what I want to be doing.

Like I am a pioneer in terms of what I am doing, and it shows. If you look around my life, I have extraordinary results in my relationships with money, with my body, with my career. I don't know a single person, like if we were to look at going against the conventional society standards, if you look at most people who went to theater school, they're not running a successful business while running a production company, making their own films, becoming their own bosses, like all of these things. And I'm like, that is so powerful. And I know that it can probably be easy to see where I am and assume that there's something special about me. And I have to again, just repeat that there is nothing special about me, other than the way that I think. And the way that I think has been very intentionally cultivated and curated by doing the work that I teach y'all here on this podcast every week, of stepping into my authentic truth, letting go of fear and making decisions, advocating for my future self and advocating for the belief that I have in myself even when there is no evidence. And I have been able to break this down. This is the exact work that I teach y'all and work with my clients and break down for them in such an intimate way, to be able to go and do this in your life. I don't want you to have my life, and you don't wanna have my life, either. I know that there are probably parts of my life and maybe my life is a great like springboard for what you really want and your true desires.

But your mission, I would argue, is to become different than the societal standard. And that's the thing, I was looking at my life and just realizing, if there was another person on this planet doing the same thing as me, living in LA and running their life the same way as me, I would know them, they would be my friend. There isn't. There is not one other person living their life like mine because I have decided that I'm a person who gets to be the exception. And I continue to bet on that belief every day in and every day out. And that is so different than where I was when I started this work seven years ago, checking people in at a gym, making $12 an hour. Then turning around, taking six subway transfers home to go to bed. To wake up at four o'clock in the morning to go and sign up for an audition and not even be able to be seen, and then go do another gig job and like nanny some kids before going back to my gym job and then just starting all over the next day. Like I have been there. There have been times where I was worried about paying my rent or worried that I was never going to work again in this industry, or worried that I was completely going to burn out.

And when I was sitting there and just enjoying the space that I've created and the creative freedom that I have, it really just hit me. That is what celebrity is. It's being able to go against societal standards. And now running my business and seeing, being able to help so many more people, like that really is just a ripple effect. And whether or not you're a coach, you are able to have that same effect when you start living your life differently. There are people who were judgmental of the choices that I made and talk about me behind my back and all of the things when I was first starting out and first deciding I'm actually gonna do something different, and I'm gonna try something new. And I felt like an outcast, and I felt like I didn't belong and I felt like there wasn't a place for me. And yet those people now are telling me that they admire me and that they admire my choices and that they have been inspired by watching my journey. And that is available for you too. Again, I am not a special unicorn. Celebrities are not special unicorns. They're just people who have decided that they get to be the exception to societal standards. They're the people who continue to dream and to bet on themselves and to act delusional and to show up in a delusional way and say, I actually want something different. And this course of my life, is not just changing my life, it's changing my son's life. It's changing my friend's lives, it's changing my employee's lives.

You get to have a ripple effect. And I would offer again that it is your duty to become as famous as possible and to break societal standards, so that we can build a better world. I think I'm gonna stop there. I had some other notes, but I'll save them for another podcast. I'm really excited about this work. It's been so fun coaching y'all in my group about this. If this is something that speaks to you and you are ready to step into this new identity, then head to the link in my show notes and join us on our webinar. I will talk to y'all soon and have an amazing day. Bye.

Thanks so much for listening. If you are ready to take this work even deeper and up level your life and career, follow the link in my show notes to coach with me in The Abundant Artist Academy, my group coaching program for creatives who are tired of being struggling artists and who are ready to start creating more in their lives- more happiness, more bookings, and more money. I'll see you on the inside.