The status bar in Facebook allows us to tell our friends "Hey, this is what I'm doing!" Twitter allows anyone to post their current status from anywhere in the world. Using a mobile device I can give everyone a play by play of my life. As unusual as this sounds - because really, can't we ask "Who really cares to know everything about my life?" - it is a very popular site. We try anything that has a chance for us to gain attention.
I used to live my life thinking I was immune to this simple truth. I sought to not gain attention and to not be seen. However, I realized, after my life came crashing down, that I was running from the pain of not getting attention. I was not popular, smooth, nor exciting enough to make a person turn their head my direction. I was running from the realization that I did not have what it takes to gain the attention I wanted. Thus, as I was rebuilding my life, I came to understand and accept the type of attention that I deserve. All of this to say: no one is truly immune to centering their life around getting attention.
We dress to get attention from the opposite sex (or the same sex I suppose, if you swing that direction). We perform well in school to gain the 'good job' attention. We perform poorly in school to gain any type of attention even if it is negative. We get very excited to see our name in the paper or to be mentioned on the news - it means many many people get to see us! Honestly, take a look at your life and I think you'll see two patterns. First, most of the things you do during the day are an attempt to gain attention. Second, you avoid attempting to gain attention because you know you'll fail and it will hurt. The more I look at my life the more I realize that this is the case.
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