Are You Somebody?

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

~Emily Dickinson

What do you think she was trying to say? If you know anything about Emily Dickinson, you know that after returning from Female Seminary, she was extremely content to be a recluse, never leaving her Massachusetts home. Later in life she even had a hard time leaving her bedroom. Most of her relationships were maintained by mail, eliminating the need for her to engage in social settings like parties or luncheons or whatever else they used to do in groups during the 1800s.

Contrast this attitude with that of today. Everyone wants to famous. Everyone wants to be chased by the paparazzi; even the people that ARE celebrities! Half of them call photographers ahead of time to make sure they know where they can catch a good picture of all the glitz and gossip. Even high schoolers want to be somebody. Have you ever noticed the cattiness that comes out during Superlative Week? Or Homecoming Nominations? Good grief. It's borderline obscene.

But among all the "Somebodies" of today, how many somebodies are there REALLY? To be SOMEBODY means that you leave a mark on the world, that you fight for something bigger than you, that people (maybe not thousands of people but people none the less) are inspired by your action and compassion, that you are proud of the life that you lead, that you fail with grace and honor, and that at the end of your life, you have exhausted every fulfilling opportunity afford you. That is to be somebody. That you give all you are and all you possess for Love.

Are you Somebody?