Breaking News: Michael Jackson is Still Dead

What does it say about a culture whose media reports round the clock coverage of an entertainer who grew before our eyes from an adorable, talented child into a tragic caricature of a tortured artist?  For one thing, it says that culture needs a serious wake-up call about what it values as successful.

We are alive during a time in society that is the spiritual equivalent of the TV show “Supermarket Sweep.”  This was the old game show where contestants would have a limited time to run through a store stuffing purchases into their shopping carts, while menaced by monsters that stalked the isles.  The winner would be the contestant whose items would add up to the higher monetary value.  This premise may make for a fun 30-minute contest, but it isn’t a great model for a successful life.

While parents may tell their children that “happiness comes from within” or “it’s the thought that counts” when it comes to gift giving, the messages from our culture are mixed.  

We all like creature comforts, but there is a big difference between the pursuit of pleasure and the pursuit of happiness.   Happiness cannot be found in the ability to string together a never-ending list of pleasurable moments – it truly has to come from within.
The life and death of Michael Jackson speaks to this.  Here was a talented man who was rich enough to indulge all his whims and surround himself with innumerable objects of distraction, however bizarre or obscure.  Yet, all one has to do is look at his self-inflicted disfigured face to know that he was a man who self-esteem was seriously damaged.  
His penchant for plastic surgery speaks volumes about the pain he undoubtedly felt being in his own skin.  Of course, his money did buy him many willing accomplices to go along with a distorted plan that left his face looking like a puppet that was caught in a house fire.
Now we are treated to wall-to-wall media spectacle surrounding an emotionally ill, tragic entertainer’s death.  For days the coverage has dragged on and, not surprisingly, lacks any sense of true introspection that will actually add value to the conversation and move us forward as a culture.  Let me do my small part here and ask us to get some real value from the death of Michael Jackson by learning from the example that no amount of money can buy inner peace and happiness.  

This is a spiritual law of the universe.  When we try to find inner peace through outside validation, we add to our own suffering.  I actually had the opportunity to hear more evidence of this many years ago when I had the opportunity to listen to another extremely well-known celebrity speak candidly and openly about his personal life.  This man spoke of being in the depths of despair, sitting high up on a hotel window ledge, contemplating jumping to his death.  I remember thinking, “Man!  Here’s a guy with a fan club!”  Still the journey from the head to the heart is a long one and it is harder to put that knowledge into action – especially because so many people are suffering the same delusions.  So I spent many subsequent years still in pursuit of outside validation even though in my heart I knew I was on a quixotic adventure.

When analyzing the life and death of Michael Jackson we are confronted with more proof that we cannot accumulate enough things, or surround ourselves with enough sycophants to cure us if we suffer from spiritual sickness in our hearts.
Smart people learn from their own mistakes but wise people learn from the mistakes of others.  Let’s be wise people and not confuse pleasure with happiness.  The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime; and, departing, leave behind us, footprints in the sands of time.”  Michael Jackson leaves behind his footprints on American musical pop culture, but also gives us the opportunity to learn yet again that happiness is an inside job.  Let’s not waste our precious time devaluing our lives by pursing distractions to our own detriment, as all the money in the world cannot buy happiness or another day of life.

Thanks for reading.  Please visit me at Fandha.com - Don't Go Into Your Mind Alone