Who would your celebrity dinner guest be? Mine may well be Julia Roberts. I have been a life-long fan since watching Pretty Woman, more than a couple… umm… less than a hundred times. I’ve always admired her positivity, her wholesomeness, her variety of roles, and an ability to keep her private life, well, private.
Yesterday, I stumbled across one of Roberts’s latest roles, Mother Nature, part of a series of short, less than two minute long, celebrity-endorsed nature-focused films intended to raise awareness for climate change on behalf of Conservation.org. It’s a brilliant example of the rise in celebrities using their voices and social media microphones to promote powerful messages on the global stage.
Watching celebrities take on these more serious roles excites me. It reflects the general shift towards the power of individuals and key influencers in the world. Impassioned people using their position and/or magnetism to attract a huge following, the effect a single social media post can have on millions of loyal followers is totally transformative. Cultural revolutions have been started on the Internet. Here’s hoping that climate change and conservation can follow suit. Positive change is at our fingertips, the power of social media is on the up. I feel a responsibility to choose who I listen to, who I follow, wisely. By educating and aligning myself with people who’re bringing about positive change, I’m inspired and elevated.
Are celebrities born with a natural magnetism? Jim Carrey said recently that he believes he had to become famous, to spend the first half of his life acquiring and being admired, only to eventually realise that that way of life can never fulfil you. It’s not, he says, where happiness comes from. The many roles he played, including himself as Jim Carrey, were all just that, false identities, ideas – his ego. He now shares his ability to make people laugh, and inner wisdom, from a place of understanding and wholeness.
Many people who’ve been on an African safari will have encountered a positive conservation-focused discovery or story, either from first-hand experience, or something imparted from an inspirational guide. I believe it’s our responsibility to then share these discoveries via our social networks, in the appropriate way. Climate change can manifest positively, and one way we can all help is by supporting the innovative solutions, many at grassroot level, which are emerging.
Indeed, I could end by saying that we all have the potential to be celebrities, if we can learn how to detach from our egos and allow our real passions and authentic voices to surface, then we can be the guiding stars in our own lives, and many will follow. So I will. And, like Julia Roberts, I will continue to evolve, and to strive to do my best in all roles I am given, including that of an environmentalist.
Experienced Africa travel consultant and fan of all things well-being, Sally Kirby writes for a number of travel-orientated outlets, and blogs at The Teal Journal. Opening photo credit: © Mother Nature