"Read about the passing of Whitney Houston. The article I read said this: "She had the perfect voice, and the perfect image: A gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise." Could not help but think- "Death by perfection." Perfectionism tears at wholeness, leaves no room for the humanness. That kind of projection can kill a person. Just terribly sad."
"Death by perfection"--it's something to think about. What pressure must Whitney Houston have had upon her to be the perfect singer, the perfect mother, to have the perfect marriage? Perfection and striving are deadly indeed, but this is something that I didn't learn for a long, long time. I feel grateful and fortunate to know this now, privileged to be able to explore it here, and very, very sad for Whitney Houston and her family.
Life is so very short, and so fragile.
~Photo from Oriah Mountain Dreamer's post today on her FB page
4 comments:
I was really sad to hear that Whitney died. I liked her alot. Some demons are hard to get rid of.
It seems that with success comes the difficulty and pressure to maintain a sense of self and an ability to simply be human. So sad. I knew she was struggling but I always hoped she'd make it through the storm.
It's good to see you here, Sarah. Yes, you're so right. I am praying for her daughter. Peace and blessings to you, xoO
Kristine, I did too. I really thought she would make it. There are so many challenges with great success, and most people don't know...we don't talk about this too much, do we?
I saw Glen Campbell on a show and he messed up and then joked "You don't want to do it perfect every time because then people will expect it of you." And you know he has a point. He seems laid back, doing the best he can, but definitely not striving for absolute perfection. I'm not sure anyone expected it from him, either.
Yet with Whitney and others it seems so different. It's hard to picture Whitney making a goof and then making a little joke about it. I think she would be torn to pieces. And yet Glen Campbell was almost as great for his time and also had problems with addiction...what expectations do we put on people and what do they put on themselves?
I really wonder about this. Why did Whitney have to be perfect?
What does anyone else think?
Thanks for commenting, Kristine, xoO
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