James Lee Stanley

I was talking to a friend of mine last night and we got on to being in the spotlight and what kind of responsibility comes with that.    Here at Datamusicata, we’ve already talked about the responsibility of being prepared but this was something else entirely.

When you are in the spotlight, you have a “bully pulpit” as Teddy Roosevelt described it.    You get to say and do and support and demonstrate anything you want and, aside from hecklers, you get no opposition.   It’s not like a debating team giving equal time to both sides. 

It’s just you up there and the audience is giving you power.   Power that you did not earn. 

I’m not talking about the applause or laughter, the admiration or the encore.    I’m talking about another kind of power.   What you say and do up there has enormous impact on the people watching.

When something is the center of attention, be it you, or a Super Bowl commercial, it has an impact far beyond what you would reasonably think it has.

They would not charge so very much for a minute of time if it didn’t have such an enormous impact.  The larger the audience focused on something the more impact it has.

So keep in mind that when you are up there in the spotlight, you are given a power that you did not earn.   And like Superman’s mom, I’m telling you that you can use that power for good or for evil.

Go up there unprepared, drunk, stoned, angry, petulant, whatever, and the people that love you and think you are in that spotlight because you are gifted and you are doing something right, will believe that whatever you are demonstrating is validated.

And here’s what you want to remember.   You help create the world we live in, so what do you want to have happen while you’re up there?  

Do you want people to believe it’s okay to show up for a job drunk; it’s okay to cheat on your wife; it’s okay to spit in the food you are delivering to a fast food customer (that was Eminem in one of his videos); it’s okay to be less that you can be in front of people who paid good money to see you do your best?

You are given a power while you are up there, that you did not earn.   Use it wisely.