I'm having to pay for it for a really long time...

Okay, so I'm an inveterate pop-culture guy.

Yes I am.

And I like Britney Spears.

So I watched her bio-flick tonight, an hour and a half of it.  What struck me about it was her loneliness and sense of isolation.  Very interesting to see her comment on how long it's taking her to 'pay off' her bad-times-debt.

I feel a deep sense of empathy and compassion for her.

As I walked to the bathroom during a commercial break, here's what struck me.  She had expressed a deep desire for 'normalcy'.  She said that the things she really wants are the little things, "To be part of the people..."  To be able to go for a fall walk.

So two points for us to consider.

1) Once you've got more money than you can ever spend, your desire, sense of need, will transition to whatever it is that you don't have.  We must recognize that a certain 'emptiness' is part and parcel of the human condition.  Recognize what will fill it and what won't.  Remember to keep the things that won't fill it in their proper place and don't allow yourself to move from fixation to fixation.

2) She wants a fall walk.  You get to go for fall walks.  Be thankful for the small graces you have.  Truly, deeply, deliriously thankful for all the little beauties in your life.

She said her fantasy is an island getaway with her babies and a man.

A man.

We're all looking for someone to love us and to love.

If you have found that person, remember to hold hard to them.  Resist your selfish impulses. Stop being a dick.  Love her.  She's glorious.  She could be gone in a flash.  Millionairesses want what you have.

Love her.

Remember that the people around you, those you pass on the street each day, are suffering just like Ms. Spears.  Sure in different ways.  Sure on a different scale.  But pain is pain and the World around you is full of it.

So, if you get to preach next week, remember that pain and remember to find and preach (from your heart) an answer to it and for it.

If you're writing, producing, directing a story, remember that pain and address it.  Show it, speak to it, deal with it, kill it, bring your audience through to the light.

'Cause 'aint nobody as wants to stay sad.

No you, not me, not our girl Britney.

T