Obscurity in a Time of Celebrity

"While fame impedes and constricts, obscurity wraps about a man like a mist; obscurity is dark, ample, and free; obscurity lets the mind take its way unimpeded. Over the obscure man is poured the merciful suffusion of darkness. None knows where he goes or comes. He may seek the truth and speak it; he alone is free; he alone is truthful, he alone is at peace."
~ Virginia Woolf

"The Flatiron," Edward Steichen 1904

This quote arrived in my e-mail — it's the thought for today from Wordsmith.org — and it did its job. It made me think. As reality TV endlessly reminds us, many of us have become obsessed with celebrity. Some are so driven, privacy and dignity are just the opening bids in what they offer in trade for fame. 


Let's hear it for obscurity and the freedom it can bring.