Echo Beach

PART ONE:

      No, I'm not a Brittany Spears fan. I have at least one nephew who isa fan, quite possibly more, maybe a niece or two. Since Brittany is in the news lately I am aware of what she's done, I even know some of the lyrics to the song I've referred to in the title. She's remade herself.
It has to be hard for a performer to make a transition from teen idol to adult professional. I know of a few who were successful. Michael Jackson and Don Osmond spring to mind. The Beatles started off as probably the biggest teen idols in history, and now they are solidly in place with respective careers. I'm sure John Lennon would be too, if he were still with us.
      Then there are the many failures. The Monkeys leap to mind right away. The four of them have had to completely rebuild their lives from scratch. David Cassidy had a hell of a time. He failed no matter what he tried. Now he's a successful producer, but that's certainly not where he started. And what ever happened to Bobby Sherman?
      Brittany Spears is still taking heat for her slinky performance at an award ceremony last spring. I saw an interview about her early this morning in which fans said what they thought of her new look. It was split 50/50. I can't fault Brittany. She's built her image around her music and her youth, but she can't be a teenager all her life. She's turned 18 and is telling the world that she's an adult now. Okay, she is, just barely, and her new image is suggestive, but it's not blatant, certainly not Madona-esque. She's taking a risk. If her music grows with her, if her audience grows with her, then the risk may pay off.
      I think one of the complaints her critics have is that some of her audience isn't ready to grow up that much yet. To that I can only shrug. You can't please everybody. She may have been able to pull off the young teen image for a while longer, but that, in itself, is risky. Such is the price of being a pop icon.

PART TWO:
      The performers of the professional world are not the only ones who need to remake themselves. While these performers remake their outward appearance, most of us have to remake our inward character. We sometimes need to remake our minds, our opinions, even our reactions. Some of us need to remake ourselves constantly and others perhaps don't need to remake themselves at all, or perhaps don't feel they need to.
I'm in the process of remaking myself. These essay pages are part of that process. I started them exactly a year ago today, with every intention of posting an essay each week. I didn't meet my goal. Last fall I only posted three essays.
      With this New Year, this new beginning, I have resolved to meet the goal again. However every essay I've come up with sounded familiar. When I went back and reviewed my past essays I figured out why. I had written about most, if not all, of the significant philosophical topics that I have been dwelling on for the past 15 or 20 years. I could certainly revisit those topics, dig into them a little deeper. I probably will in the course of the year. But unless I broaden my personal horizon I'm going to run out of essays again.
      "That isn't possible," you say. "With the infinite world, the infinite universe, it is simply impossible to run out of things to write about."
I know this. That's why, with this New Year, this New Century, and, if you must insist, this New Millennium, I am putting forth these resolutions:

          I will feed my mind so as to have more things to dwell upon.
          I will listen more to that little voice.
          I will seek out more passions.
          I will remember the moments and create new moments to remember.
          I will stay in focus as life throws me my challenges.

     I am remaking myself, rebuilding my foundation from which I will reach out for that infinite horizon.
And I will respect those people who realize that life isn't stagnant, who, like Brittany Spears, feel they need to remake themselves and change with the times.

     Personally though, I like Sting better.