This Sunday I’m going to be conducting an intimate conversation with Jon Gosselin at the West Side Jewish Center in Manhattan.<\/p>\n
America has to start having serious conversations about fame. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Celebrity is undermining our culture; not only because so many
\npeople who attain it find that their lives have been severely
\ndisrupted, but more importantly the obsession with celebrity is pulling
\nus away from our own lives as we focus so much more on our movie stars
\nand television stars than even on our own marriages and our own
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
In the case of John Gosselin my reading of him from many
\nconversations with him and many counseling sessions is that he’s a man
\nwith a good heart who sincerely wants to correct many of the mistakes
\nhe’s made having gotten carried away with fame.<\/p>\n
I believe it when he tells me that he wants to be a moral example to
\nhis 8 children and that he admits that he has made serious errors and
\nthat he requires the guidance to find his way out of the celebrity
\nlabyrinth. And lets face it, so many people are hit with fame
\nespecially when it comes overnight and they do things of which they’re
\nnot proud.<\/p>\n
Our job is not to dismiss them and ridicule them, but for those who
\nreally want to find a moral path our job is to get them to consecrate
\ntheir fame and celebrity to a higher cause, to a higher purpose.<\/p>\n
The fact is that becoming famous is a bit like winning the lottery.
\nIt could be a great blessing and one can do great things with fame–you
\ncan highlight causes of poverty, you can work hard to promote charities
\nor you can make it about self absorption and all about you.<\/p>\n
i have tried very hard to impress on John that fame is a phenomenal
\nresponsibility. That there are serious moral and ethical implications
\nto a celebrity status and trying to be an important role model. And it
\nis my hope that this conversation will highlight those issues and have
\nall of us in America have a healthier relationship with celebrity. <\/p>\n
Join us on Noveber 1st for this intimate discussion on whether fame
\nis a blessing or a curse, and how to turn one’s fame into a higher
\ncalling.<\/p>\n
This Sunday I’m going to be conducting an intimate conversation with Jon Gosselin at the West Side Jewish Center in Manhattan. America has to start having serious conversations about fame. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.thisworld.us<\/a><\/b>http:\/\/www.ThisWorld.us\/events.php<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"