Another graying prince of a shrinking kingdom

Ten years is the new fifteen minutes.

Internet lightning in a bottle, strategically milked, can launch an entire career. We’ve seen it happen a thousand times, and we idealize and romanticize it every time it does.

But we never think about what happens on the other side of that story. We forget that only a certain type of creature can live in the spotlight for so long. And they either shine or burn.

Kobe, rest if peace, once talked about this very issue in his gorgeous love letter to basketball, which later became an award winning animated film. He wrote that he never saw the end of the tunnel, he only saw himself running out of one.

It’s a cryptic allusion to some seriously dark and heavy themes, namely, time and death.

That’s what retirement feels like. In the absence of future opportunity and forward motion, we are confronted with the piercing grief of losing that core part of our identity. Having gone through a retirement of sorts myself, there are some key questions that come to mind.

Ones that most people are afraid to confront:

What happens when your fifteen minutes are almost over?
What if the market shows that your golden goose is about to stop laying eggs?
What happens when the trade on your fame loses most of its zeros?
What if it’s time to make peace with the fact that you had your moment, but now it’s time to walk away?
What if life is whispering to you that it’s time to quietly fade away and figure out something else to do?

Roman generals expertly insulated themselves against this trap. While standing alone in their chariots, they would always have one servant who stood behind them throughout the tumultuous procession whispering, all fame is fleeting, all men are mortals.

It’s a crushing blow to our ego, and it’s entirely necessary. Because without somebody whispering that over our shoulders, our egos will continue to try and convince us that nothing will help and nobody will understand.

When the reality is, fulfillment depends on our willingness to look beyond the illusion the ego has created. The reality is, without all that fame, we still can be loved.

First and foremost, by ourselves.

Take it from a graying prince of a shrinking kingdom. If you can find a way move away from the spotlight and work quietly, and still build your fountain of fulfillment from within, then you win.

What if you weren’t made for this scene, even though you were made in this scene?