But the older I get I see how much younger and younger boy bands and solo musicians have become. And I recognize their youth far better than when I was a teenager. From outside the music industry, I perceive a strong appearance of children being treated like a commodity.
When a child’s work begins to generate revenue, it appears that their personhood is neglected to the point that they are treated like an object. No longer viewed as a growing young soul that adults are responsible for raising into a mature adult, the youth is suddenly considered an accomplished human being because they generated great wealth.
And in everyday life, there are similarities as well. The child who performs well at school. The child who performs well at sports. The child who performs. If a child can perform well, then it seems as if adults consider themselves successful at raising a child and cease to help the child develop as a multidimensional human being.
And perhaps each of us as adults treats ourselves the same way. If we perform well – at work, as a spouse, as a parent, at however you find value – then we consider ourselves a success and tend to neglect the rest of ourselves that requires more varied experiences than just performance.
Having the discipline to perform well can be a great character trait, but it is greatest when it is in the context of other character traits as well. We each need to remember that we have additional sources of value besides our performance. We are intrinsically worthy and valuable of peace and love and personal investment and more varied life experiences besides going through the motions of what another person or industry or financial motive determines some very narrow definition of success to be.
You are more than your performance. You’ve got this!
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock
