They’re really not so different than us, wealthy people. You’d think with so much money and fame and fortune that their lives would be remarkably different. And on the surface they are. Everything they have is bigger, everything has nicer labels on it, and there are some problems that simply don’t exist when you have enough money to throw around. But once you get under the surface, everything else is the same.
Some of them steal when they think they can get away with it. Some suffer from anxiety, depression, insomnia, wanderlust, and general dissatisfaction. Some punish themselves for their mistakes far greater than they believe someone else should be punished for the same transgression. Some struggle to find the right balance between catering to themselves and catering to their families and friends. Some envy the guy with the biggest house and mask it by making jokes about how nice it must be to have so much money.
Their kids want the same toys our kids want for Christmas. They still almost always prefer a burger from McDonald’s over the gourmet burgers they sell at whatever trendy eatery has recently opened up in the neighborhood. Some of their children are spoiled brats and some of them are selfless angels and most of them land somewhere in between, just like our children.
They still have unhappy relationships. They still suffer from communication issues. They still cheat on each other. They still say things they don’t mean and promise themselves they wont do it again. They still hurt each other unnecessarily. They still love when it is unrequited and hopeless. They still find comfort in something or someone new. They still realize that problems they have run from tend to find them again as the new things they’ve hidden in grow older too. They still want what they can’t have. They still play hard to get because they know it works.
They worry about making new friends. They worry about how they hell they are going to find some time alone. Some of them even worry about both in the same day. They worry about first impressions. They worry about their own performance. They worry about being able to get everything done in what time they have and if they could just make the day two hours longer everything would be so much easier. They worry about their health. They worry about getting enough sleep. They worry about what to get people they care about for their birthdays.
They notice the nice ass on the waiter or waitress at whatever restaurant they are dining in regardless of the price of the items on the menu. Their spouses roll their eyes and feel a pang of jealousy and when they notice them looking. They have fantasies about people they know. They have fantasies about people they don’t know. They all want to be good in bed. They want to feel wanted. They want to feel loved. They want to be understood. They want to be accepted. They want to have less to worry about and more to enjoy.
They are stubborn and cranky and opinionated and unwavering and close-minded. They have bad days and lose their tempers and get frustrated and get overwhelmed and get angry and want time alone and to be understood without being bothered. They need time to recover. They need understanding and forgiveness.
They are happy and silly and friendly and caring open-minded and giving and loving and kind and have good days and want to laugh and enjoy the smile of a child and the kiss of a lover and the warmth of a friend. They need love and understanding.
They want things and ideals to be realized with as little effort as possible. And it’s still the difference between what they want, how badly they want it, and much effort they’re willing to put forth that has some of them running their own businesses, some of them building houses for the homeless, some of them creating art to share with the world, some of them injecting themselves with chemicals, and some of them counting down the minutes until then can fall into their spot on the couch and watch TV until they fall asleep.
They are human, just like everyone else.
the curiosity
We all love and fear and succeed and fail. We are all inquisitive. We are all seekers of knowledge. We are all social.
We deserve forgiveness and understanding and love when we’re frustrated, when we’ve made a mistake, or when we’re having a bad day. We deserve encouragement and recognition and acceptance when we try to make the world even the smallest bit better or more enjoyable through art or service or friendship. We deserve love and peace and smiles from friends and strangers alike. We deserve the laughter of children, the desire of lovers, and the warmth of friends. We deserve time to cut loose and enjoy the simple act of being human. And we deserve these things whether we are wealthy or not.
All the wealth in the world cannot afford the rich life we can provide one another if we just bother to do so.