michael stipe's epiphany

My teenage years were flavored with the first three albums of U2, a dash of Michael Jackson, a bit of Spandau Ballet, a drop of Tears for Fears, a side trip with the Cure that eventually led to the appreciation of the Seattle sound of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots. Of course, I also took the local counterparts like The Dawn, Rivermaya, Eraserheads and this is a bit of a stretch, True Faith.

But there was this one particular song that resonated with me during that "boy becoming a man" years. It was song by REM, Everybody Hurts.

I was channel surfing one night and I was suprised to see Michael Stipe, REM's frontman/ songwriter, with this famous pleasantly plum Italian chef on a TV show. I said, "Hmmm, that's a bit weird?"

When I looked at the credits, it was an episode of Iconoclast.

With interest properly stoked, I took it all in.

I always knew that Michael Stipe was really a songwriter first. I was suprise to know that he was also a fan of U2. In fact, he felt bad that he did not write A Beautiful Day and he even told Bono about it, too = )

For me, the pearl of the episode was when Michael Stipe opened up and blurted out something like this, "... one day, I was among closest friends. Having dinner. It was a time after a concert. I was sitting there but I was not there. My mind was off to something. I caught myself saying - this is (friends, dinner and conversation) boring. It took me sometime to figure out that that situation was not boring. That my friends are interesting people and that I love them. I soon realized that I was so inflated by the tour. Still in a high of performing in front of a thousand crowds. Receiving that much attention. I found out that I had to deflate. Had to come back to earth..."

I guess that will explain all the excesses we see when celebrities, stars, famous and powerful people unravel right before the eyes of the Internet-fused world. They hadn't deflated yet = )

How many actors and actresses have we seen and read behaving badly? How many politicians have we seen and read that went greedy and sold the Philippines? = )

"Vanity is my favorite sin..." as Al Pacino said in The Devil's Advocate. And the greatest lie the Devil can tell is to tell us that he does not exist = )

I'm glad. Yes, I am glad that even though we live dark times, we also live in a time when light can truly be seen. Why? Because it is dark = )

I'm glad that our current generation is given this opportunity to be remembered that we were not asleep and did not run away from the challenges.

I am glad that I live in world that has heard the stories of South Korea and of Singapore. On how they both overcome odds of limited natural resources and became a part of the 1st world countries in one generation. I am reminded of what Taiichi Ohno said when he was still inculcating the now famous Toyota Production System Technology within Toyota, "Do not use money. Use your head!"

May I dare add to come down to earth, too?

Exhale. Deflate...

"... why think like mere men?"