Over the Celebrity Hype: Real Heroes Die Every Day

This week marked the passing of three high profile celebrities: Ed Mc Mahon, Farrah Fawcett and Micheal Jackson. While I am certainly aware of each of them, the attention they received in the social media universe and the traditional media space was crazy. Particularly the King of Pop.

Word of his condition spread on Twitter like wildfire before traditional media could even get a foot in the door. Everyone I followed seemed to want to jump on the bandwagon and almost all had something to say.

I follow @PattyGale on Twitter. I often agree with a lot of comments she makes and this week she tweeted something that resonated so strongly with me. "Sorry, can't get into the last 2 days of news. Sad for the families yes. However, real heroes die every day & don't get headlines."

I loved this statement - I had been thinking it since I began to see the Twitter flurry that had erupted over MJ's death. She literally took the words out of my mouth.

I had no desire to tweet about their deaths. I had no desire to state my unending (and mind you non-existent) love for the musician. I think it's crazy that fans rushed to his home and hospital. That people were overcome with emotion - bursting into tears.

It's not that I don't think that passings aren't important - they are. But they are private. And most importantly, I do feel that we channel an inappropriate amount of energy into how much we care about people that appear on the silver screen or fill our heads with tunes.

I think its fine to pause, reflect on a life, and wish nothing but peace to the ones they left behind. I just don't think I need to participate in what I call a celebrity Twitterpaloza.

Patty's right. Real heroes die every day and few stop to pay attention. And if you're a regular reader of my blog you know that I'm referring to the military members of our fine nation.

I do think it is fascinating that some people can touch our lives in profound ways, even if we never meet them. For those people to change our line of thought, to help us look at the world in a different way or broaden our horizons. But for me, those people are rarely celebrities. They are often the men and women of our nation's great forces. Because they are my heroes.