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The brief, bright life of an influencer
This is for all the lonely people wishing to be influencers.
Nova means not for long
A nova is a strong, rapid increase in the brightness of a star. The word comes from the latin for “new star,” because often a star previously too dim to be seen with the naked eye can become the brightest object in the sky (besides the sun and the moon) when it becomes a nova.
What appears to be a “new star” is as old as time, once faint and hidden, lost in a universe of competing lights. Then, suddenly, there is a burst of energy, and the star no one has seen before outshines all other stars in the night sky. How long it will last is anyone’s guess. One thing is sure: it won’t last forever.
I was reading the book Larry McMurtry: A Life by Tracy Daugherty. In chapter 10, Daugherty writes about Ken Kesey (author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) and his tribe of psychedelic drug-fueled hippies who called themselves ThePranksters, and their psychedelic bus trip from California to New York. The trip ““ in both meanings of the word ““ is on a bus they painted in wild hippie fashion and named Further. It was chronicled by Tom Wolfe in his famous book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test about the psychedelic drug experimentations in the 1960s.
Kesey and other San Francisco influencers like The Grateful Dead helped usher in the hippie movement. Kesey was also a gifted author drawing attention to his work by this cross-country acid trip. He expected to make a splash at The World’s Fair when he arrived in New York. The year was 1964.
This is what Daugherty writes about Kesey’s arrival at the World’s Fair:
Spectacles were replacing spectacles so quickly now in daily life, the new was old the minute it was born.
Tracy Daugherty, Larry McMurtry: A Life, Chapter 10
Kesey barely registered in the consciousness of the celebrants. He was too late. They had moved on.
Hard to stand out in a crowded sky
More now than ever before in human history, the stage is crowded. Billions clam for the clamor of the crowd. Influencers abound, but none for long. When most of us discover who’s who on (fill in the Social Media platform, etc), they aren’t anymore. Too many things vie for attention. We have the attention of gnats and the tolerance of pissed-off rodeo bulls. No one and nothing appeals for long. If Kesey’s acid-addled clowns thought the spotlight switched off swiftly in 1964, they hadn’t seen anything yet.
My wife and I just watched a documentary on OJ Simpson. His recent death prompted the reemergence of the thing. It reminded me of when OJ was about all anyone talked about. His murder of his ex-wife and her friend dominated the news, talk shows, magazines, and every kind of mass media. OJ Simpson’s recent death was a footnote in a day’s news. He was yesterday’s news, long forgotten. The OJ thing lasted much longer than anything today will. The competition is too fierce. The stage is too crowded. And the platform is always changing.
Remember Bruce Jenner? You may not. You may only know Caitlyn Jenner. Whichever Jenner you remember, you have, like me, mostly forgotten. Bruce was one of America’s favorite athletes, an all-time great Olympian, considered by some the world’s greatest athlete for winning the Olympic Decathlon. He was on talk shows and cereal boxes. And then he wasn’t. And then he became Caitlyn and he was back in the limelight. Then he wasn’t.
In May 2016, a year after Bruce transitioned to Caitlyn, Tim Kenneally wrote in an article for The Wrap titled, Caitlyn Jenner Experienced ‘Sex Change Regret,’ Might De-Transition, Biographer Says.
I pulled this quote from the article: “‘One source confirmed to me Caitlyn has made whispers of ‘sex change regret,’ hinting she might go back to being Bruce Jenner,’ Halperin said.”
The Halperin in question is Ian Halperin, author of Kardashian Dynasty: The Controversial Rise of America’s Royal Family.
Jenner called the statement “idiotic” and refused comment.
We transitioned from OJ Simpson running through airports in commercials, celebrated as a heroic, singular American athlete, to Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner, to the Kardashians, whose only fame is fame itself, and whose ridiculous dynasty outlasted its predecessors.
Does anyone remember the first Kardashian (now dead) to make the news? Remember Robert Kardashian, the husband and father of the K clan and friend of OJ Simpson? He was a lawyer and put together the dream team that would ultimately enable OJ Simpson to “get away with murder.” Soon enough, the lawyers on that team ““ Robert Kardashian (no longer with us), Robert Shapiro (still kicking), F. Lee Bailey (deceased), Johnnie Cochran (dead), Alan Dershowitz (gone on), and Barry Scheck (74 at this writing) ““ would be relegated to documentaries and ancient history.
Boomers.
From Supernova to Black Hole
A Supernova is the saddest tale of all.
When massive stars reach the end of their lives, they collapse under their own gravity so rapidly that a violent explosion known as a supernova ensues. Astronomers believe that, after all the excitement of the explosion, what is left is the ultra-dense core, or compact remnant, of the star. Depending on how massive the star is, the compact remnant will be either a neutron star “” an object so dense that a teaspoon of its material would weigh around a trillion kilograms here on Earth “” or a black hole “” an object from which nothing, not even light, can escape.
Current knuckleheads who dismiss everything that ever happened before they made their grand appearance on humanity’s stage with phrases like, “OK, Boomer,” will find their moment, the only one they thought mattered, is a millisecond, less than a drop in the bucket of time. They will be dismissed.
Supernova-style Influencer implosions occur every day.
Current knuckleheads who dismiss everything that ever happened before their grand appearance on humanity’s stage with phrases like, “OK, Boomer,” will one day find that their moment—the only one they thought mattered—is but a millisecond, less than a drop in the bucket of time.
Millions of “followers” and tens of millions of “likes” and “loves” don’t amount to lasting influence. Tomorrow, those heart and clapping hands emojis will belong to another. Go to whatever lengths you like for attention. It won’t last.
Author and humorist Sir Terence David John (Terry) Pratchett wrote, “Always remember that the crowd that applauds your coronation is the same crowd that will applaud your beheading. People like a show.”
“Always remember that the crowd that applauds your coronation is the same crowd that will applaud your beheading. People like a show.”
Terry Pratchett
Fame is fleeting. The spotlight fades. It all happens faster than we want to accept. It is possible, however, to make a lasting mark on this world by investing in the lives of others, providing a good example of virtue, and maintaining a values-driven life.
Granky was a Nova
My maternal grandmother’s given name was Nova. As a kid who didn’t yet know what a Nova was, I thought it was just some weird “old-people” name like my Dad’s Aunt Clarabelle or his Uncle Shirley and Aunt Susan Tennessee (whom we called Aunt Tenny) – Uncle Shirley and Aunt Tenney. SMH.
I was an adult before I thought about how cool her name was and how well it fit her. The family came to call Nova “Granky,” the name I gave her when I was a toddler. Dad was trying to teach me to call her Granny to annoy her for his amusement. (She was a quite young grandmother, me being her first grandchild.)
Granky was a Nova. She shined so brightly in the atmosphere of those who knew her. She was a pastor’s wife with a bricklayer’s work ethic and a saint’s heart. She used her station wagon to pick up lonely old widows and street urchins and take them to church. She used the garden she and Granddad kept to keep those widows and struggling young families in snap peas, onions, tomatoes, and other veggies. People living in all the worst places in town knew she was a Nova. She was their Granky, too.
Nova Henager was as close to a saint as I have ever known. Her influence is not fleeting online fame. She died before Social Media was much of a thing. She didn’t need OnlyFans to make her feel beautiful or loved. She made those around her feel beautiful and loved. They were her fans.
Nova’s beauty spoke for itself. The preacher who gave her eulogy had known her since she was a young woman. He all but confessed a lifelong infatuation. He could not help revealing how he admired her physical beauty. Who could blame him? She was a looker. More than that, he sang her praises as the most beautiful soul he had encountered.
Hedy Lamarr-like physical beauty is not why she is remembered by everyone who knew her. Nor is it those sinful cinnamon rolls I sometimes think about until my mouth waters. It was her spirit, her love, and her tireless investment in others that made her a Nova.
Rather than fret over diminishing returns on your Facebook and Instagram posts, invest in something real, something substantial, something wrapped in flesh and blood and needing your attention. Lift others and be lifted.