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| Photo retrieved from jcogtasquotes |
JUDGEMENT. This is the first word that emerged from my mind
upon hearing this quote. We all cannot escape from judgment – in fact, our
society is judgmental itself. Especially when we become successful, more and
more people would try to extinguish your luminous light. I agree with this quote
because when you try to downgrade somebody, it doesn’t make you more successful
than them just because you’re doing bad things to them. Even if you try to take
their castle down, even if it hits its walls, it doesn’t crumble down as a
whole because those rocks that you threw are nothing as large as the size of
the castle. Even so, your criticisms can become their strategies as a way of
proving you wrong because it can be the fuel to improve and even become more
successful. It is evidenced clearly in the celebrity world – especially in the
music industry; stemming back into our experiences because it is inevitable to
receive criticism; and of course, stemming back into the reason why we try to
sabotage them.
To analyze this saying, we must also analyze our behavior in
treating successful people. I always believe that hating someone for their
success is a problem within the one who hates, not the one being hated; and
that there will always be consequences from one’s actions. Inside of themselves
lie the doubts and dilemmas of self-esteem about them not succeeding.
As people discover other successful people and the
achievement that they hold, there are usually two types of envy in this. The
first having jealousy of their success as admiration. Sometimes, when you look
at them, you might say “I envy their success. I wish I could be as successful
as them.” This jealousy is the reason why you’re inspired to work hard to also
experience what success they have; hence this is the ‘good’ kind of jealousy.
The second having jealousy of their success as a threat and this leads to
hating them. This kind of jealousy will not take you anywhere because as you
hate them, you always would want to find a loophole that they could hate on. This
means you’re getting too invested in obsessing over their actions and therefore
could not focus on your own goals and aspirations.
The second type of jealousy being discussed is the reason why
your lights would never shine. Not only that, this jealousy is also self-hate
turned outward. You hating someone because of their success is a sign of
weakness and fear. You hate successful people because you are afraid that you
could not replicate the level of their success. Meaning, instead of working
hard to get on their level, you try to pull them down to your level. Which does
not happen that easily because who are they to give up their kingdom just
because of someone’s criticism?
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Sometimes it's you who's doubting yourself during the darkest
of times. Photo retrieved from Thought Catalog. |
Since high school, I realized and admitted that I was
academically gifted. Not to brag, getting high grades were kind of my
expertise, and of course, my endeavors and prayers were the prices to pay, but
sometimes, there will always be misery to experience throughout the journey. At
one point, downfall came, some people doubted that I was not the ‘one that I
used to be’ during the past. To the point when I took it too seriously and even
became my own enemy. I had become my own doubter. I then realized first that
the doubters would always hit harder once you show and feel that you’re in a
vulnerable state. With all these qualms, I conditioned myself to live up to
everyone’s expectations, but it seems like it’s forced and it doesn’t fit in
the right shoe. I then realized second that the doubters are always the ones
who expect so much from you because when you don’t, you become easier to shoot
as a target. After some devastating moments, it seems like I had reached the
end of the tunnel because all of these had prompted me into realizing “What did
they accomplish while throwing their doubts at me?” because I knew that I was
still perfectly maintaining my grades despite my emotional turmoil. I then
realized third that I must not let my light fade to satisfy someone. If I did,
would the doubters be receiving some kind of success coming from me? No. They
may be satisfied, but what’s next? If I did, would I lose something so
important in my life? Yes. Then, I lastly realized that it’s always YOU in the
end that gets to decide your fate – your downfall.
“Your light will not shine brighter by snuffing the light of
others.” In literal meaning, try burning two candles. Don’t take too much to
consider their appearance or how strong the fire is. You wanted to blow off one
candle. You blew a candle, but it did not affect the other candle. It’s just
the way it is – it’s just the same, same fire, same appearance.
Now, when you try to hate/do something awful to someone or ‘snuff
on their light’, it doesn’t get you anywhere. You’re still the same troll who
favors hating them, and they’ll still be successful people who have fulfilled
their lives. It’s not like you’d instantly become the first person to walk on
the sun when you’d cast your hate on them, right? Just to remind that it’s
entirely OK to hate a person as long as it’s reasonable and justifiable. You
can’t just tell us we’re jealous of Adolf Hitler just because we hate him. Who
would even aspire to mass murder millions of people in extermination camps and
gas chambers? As sympathetic as I am for the victims, I’ll be glad to pass on
that one. Anyways, many people do say to not criticize because you’re showing
off your jealousy, but sometimes jealousy – the ‘good’ one we’re talking about,
as I’ve said, could be the fuel of your rocket to reach the galaxy of
ambitions.
I’ll be introducing to you a Taylor Swift song relating to
this quote, which is also the ideal person who we’ll be talking about. She’s
had a huge number of anti-fans, and she hasn’t even done something
controversial (Well, if you do consider dating many guys as controversy) and
problematic.
The song is called ‘Mean.’ This is the
chorus:
“Someday, I'll be living in a big old city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?”
This song is an anthem
for those people who had experienced being doubted at or even being bullied,
and Swift wrote the song as a response for some critics slamming and doubting
her for her vocal performances during 2010. These lines meant that someday, she
will prove them wrong; that she will become more successful; that she will
become strong enough to take harsh words; and that those who wronged her will
still be talking nonsense and unprofessional comments about her. That was just
from 2010, and now it’s 2019. From an unbiased perspective, she now received the
award for being the Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards, seven
multi-platinum albums, five Billboard Hot-100 number ones, becoming the
top-paid artist in 2019 with $185 million, grossed $345.7 million on her recent
tour, and the list goes on. And now, we can say she’s really living in her big,
old city.
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A snake pouring Taylor Swift's cup with tea. (Taken from
the music video of Look What You Made Me Do.) |
But, despite all the
success that she had, she’s never had it easy during 2016. This was when
everybody hopped on the hate train. It stemmed back from her feud with Kanye West
and Kim Kardashian (which is a different and lengthy story to talk about), and
when Kardashian started calling her a ‘snake’, many people started to ride on
the ‘snake’ narrative about her. She realized that after her 5th
album called 1989, which had a happy and bubbly image, she can’t go on doing
the same image after knowing her reputation was tarnished. She needed to put on
a dark, strong and edgy front because everybody will try to snuff her light
more once she tries the ‘girl-next-door’ image once again. And this is where
her 6th album, Reputation was
born. It had a darker sound that would accompany her dark image, and her song Look
What You Made Me Do entranced this new sound and new era.
It is such a fascinating thing to see Swift’s
ability as a businesswoman and at the same time, an artist. She used Kardashian’s
‘snake’ narratives and used it as the brand of Reputation as a way to market the album and capitalize on something
from the hate that she’s getting. Just as you’d thought she was going
downwards, she started to build something big out from the rocks that people
have thrown at her.
She also learned
something so important, and that is to cut herself off from the media – which means
less interviews and more privacy. She learned that if she were to expose her
thoughts to the people and the media, the more ways the people will find just
to hate on her. Reputation is more
than just her tarnished character, it was all about finding who she really was
amidst this mess and it was all about finding her true love who stayed bona
fide to her, who supported her when everyone hated on her. Because as according
to her: “In the death of her reputation, she felt truly alive.” From all
the people who tried to snuff her light, she came back brighter than ever,
because not only she succeeded commercially, but because she also succeeded
personally.
From just one quote, it
is such an enthralling experience to write all about these because I have
learned and realized so much from this. I had many realizations from these, and
it helped me become a stronger person. I realized that there is so much more in
life when you won’t let them try to rust your shine. That sometimes, we all
need to be jealous so that we could have that inspiration to work harder. I
learned the reason why successful people want to put on a strong façade and it’s
because they do not want to become easy targets of hatred, but sometimes we
need to be vulnerable to the ones we trust because achieving success emotionally
and mentally is also a priority in order to succeed financially and materially.
As long as you won’t let anyone take you down, as long as you feel happiness,
joy, and fervor, that passionate light of yours will shine brighter than ever.
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