Some Monday Morning Thoughts on Life and Fame, inspired from THE SERPENT KING

This morning I'm thinking about some lines from Jeff Zentner's THE SERPENT KING, which is a fine and wonderful YA read that made me cry numerous times--the good emotional kind of cry, and most of those times well before the actual truly tragic event that made me cry even more. So the book was doing its job for me and I've told Jeff this and he was glad to hear it, as authors are when they've ripped your hearts out.

At one point Lydia's father is giving her a fairly long and needed talk about life, their small town, her own ambitions and those of her two friends Travis and Dill, whose circumstances are much more dire than her own. She's griping that it seems that both boys are going to stay put in this small town, that their desires and ambitions will never be met and because things come a bit easier for Lydia simply from the luck of her family situation, her father tells her, "People live quiet lives and that's okay. There's dignity in that, no matter what you may think."

Well, I've been thinking about that. It's good advice for Lydia in the moment. He's telling her hey listen-- not everyone gets to do huge amazing public things. Respect that. Don't mock it. Don't assume someone is less if their goals or surface lives aren't as large-seeming as your own.

But another part of me says be careful with platitudes such as these. Because while it is true, it is also true that there are people for whom quieter lives don't work. People who might be better off with doing grander-scoped things, things that will take them out of the quiet, out of the small, into the larger world. For them, Dr. Blankenship's word are true and yet not true. Some people need bigger dreams, I think. And that is also okay. As I used to tell our son when he was little, "We don't have to all be the same."

Lydia will pay her own price for being famous someday. Her dad tells her that, too. "Look, do you think there's anywhere...where someone as smart and talented as you can waltz in and do your thing and nobody will try to tear you down because they feel inferior to you?...You're destined for great things, Lydia. That comes with a price. Everybody wants to be close to greatness and get a piece for themselves."

I've been thinking about those words this morning, too.

Your thoughts on quiet lives and the price of wanting more are welcome in the comments.