A sharing by Ling Sing Lin
I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there is a pair of us!
Don’t tell! They’d advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!
——-Emily Dickinson
This poem by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) reflects that it is actually quite nice to be a Nobody, rather than a Somebody. Anonymous Nobodies can stick together. Your friends like you for yourself. As in the poem, you don’t have to be a frog, which croaks to announce its self importance. “Don’t you know who I am?” — haven’t we heard this refrain before, from people filled with their own self importance, when they want priority treatment.
However important a person feels he is, what is he, in the larger scheme of things, when compared with the wonders of nature – the ocean, the mountains, the universe? However brilliant a mind he has, however wealthy he is, what is he compared to God?
Lonely at the Top
In reality, famous people in the public eye find it difficult to find true friends. The hangers-on may want to name drop and want the reflected glory of the Somebody. Also, if the Somebody is rich and generous, they hope to share in the largesse.
We know that it is actually lonely at the top. There are rich and famous who suffer from depression, to the point of taking their own lives.
If you were once upon a time rich and famous, and proud of your social status, what happens should you descend in status in this rapidly changing world? If you are now a Nobody, are you humiliated, angry with this world, or will you accept your new role in life, and instead revel in your anonymity?
Advantages of a Nobody
Some people will probably think it better to be a Nobody, an ordinary person, living life on your own terms. You will not be the target of defamation (true or fake). You can revel in your anonymity, go to the supermarket in a T-shirt and shorts and flip flops, without someone taking a video and immediately posting it online with the tag “OMG! Look at what she is wearing!”
If you achieve fame and fortune through legitimate means, congratulations to you. Just don’t try the money laundering route!
lingsinglin
Dr Ling Sing Lin is a medical doctor by training. She worked in MOH HQ for many years, in policy making and administrative positions, until her retirement.
