Perception, Ego and Pain of Separation
As many of you know, Living Energy’s Tony Pace is an singer and performer who has been in the entertainment industry for three decades. He brings his perspective to the recent tragic loss of Whitney Houston below.
As technology brings the world closer and closer together, the stresses and tragedies of nations once a world away are often felt like the pain of loss of a loved one. There are so many stresses and tragedies in our modern world that call out to deeper understanding. Unfortunately it often takes significant pain for we humans to dive deeper and look at what is going on beneath the surface and emerge from those depths with approaches that really work to heal ourselves and our lives.
Our perceptions (unknowingly skewed), leading with a false ego (as opposed to a healthy ego) and a fundamental separation from our deeper authentic spiritual selves are all a recipe for disaster that claims way too many souls. I (Tony)can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when John F Kennedy was assassinated. Will that be the case regarding Whitney Houston? For some maybe. Others couldn’t care less and feel that our fallen soldiers deserve as much recognition, if not more, for what they have done. Regardless of how you feel, the fact is we all leave an imprint in the hearts and minds of those around us. Importance is based on the lens we look through. As part of the music industry for well over 30 years, so I may look at Whitney’s death through a different lens than some or most.
The music industry is unforgiving, filled with sorrow, reinvention, and rejection and then there’s the bad side! Whitney Houston reached superstardom and lived within that realm for most of her life. It started as a dream and then one day, nothing was beyond her reach. The problem, in my opinion, came the moment she fell from grace within the industry. She was no longer the hot commodity of the day and the paparazzi moved on. “What have you done lately” is the question of the day in the entertainment world. When your 15 minutes of fame are up, it can be one of the most devastating experiences in your life as an artist. How you cope with that loss can determine life, death, or at best your growth as a human/soul.
Whitney brought joy to a generation of people, a gift which she happily shared with the world. She was one who endured the anguish and whispers in the shadow of domestic abuse. She fell victim to substance abuse in her final act when her inner foundation fell. Life can erode a beautiful soul if it is not cherished and nurtured. Pain fragments and disconnects us from the universe when we are not centered and grounded. The ethereal high we seek from substances or any external means serves to sever connection to the beauty of the soul and destroy the human body. Would that it should be so easy to reach for the stars and stay among them. It is a truth that we must keep balance in this life, stay in touch with the energy and splendor all around us, and know our authentic selves.
Whitney endured the anguish of having her shadow self exposed to the public eye as she struggled to deal with the effects of domestic abuse, the rigors of show business and the agony of not having a firm inner foundation (authentic self) to cushion her and help to recreate her life. Substance abuse is more often than not a combination of dealing with unmanageable pain, a sign of a fragmented self disconnected from source energy that nurtures and strengthens. Regardless of what the coroner’s report says, The cause of her death for me, through my lens, was the inability to cope with being normal: The loss of the Superstar Persona in her own mind became the loss of her self. The climb to her true self became too much.
Leave a Reply