Everyone is Important

I was having a chat with some friends about the music industry and how some artists take advantage of others because of their ‘power’ and ‘fame’.

This perceived power or fame is delusional and not the full truth.
Let me illustrate an example.

My two worlds include healthcare and music. These are two very different worlds.

I remember one time in the inpatient nursing unit where I was working, there was a patient who was to be admitted with the same name as a famous house and techno artist, Carl Cox. I started going bananas. I was like “wait, is this actually Carl Cox? No way!” I started running around asking my colleagues if they knew who he was. Not one of my colleagues knew.  I was in shock! This artist is one of my idols and inspirations.

I now work at a world renown hospital for orthopedic surgery. The surgeons here perform surgery for famous athletes and people fly in from all over the world and country to get surgery performed here. If one of these surgeons walked into Ultra Music Festival and tried to get backstage, they wouldn’t be able to. Nobody knows who they are in the music world. And if Carl Cox walked into the emergency room at New York Hospital it's likely nobody would know him either. (It wasn’t actually Carl Cox, by the way. He lives in Australia!)

I like to use this example because they both represent people who make profound impacts on thousands or millions of people. Yet, they are unknown to each other. These worlds are equally important, but completely different and nobody ‘knows’ them in these respective ‘opposite’ environments.

In reality, perceived power and fame are non-existent once you leave your bubble. Remembering this can keep you humble. Egoes are so fragile and latch on to stories of self-importance and power. This perceived self-importance and power allows one to treat others like they are less than.

We should never look down on someone because we hold a higher position or make more money or have more fame. It’s all relative. Everyone has a seat at the table—we all like to have entertainment, need our electricity and plumbing, our trash disposed of, and we all need healthcare. 

Every ‘world’ and person has its significance. In fact, their contribution is essential to the functionality of our lives as human beings. We are all important but also not so important at the same time. You are no better than anybody else.

We can remember this fact as a reminder to be kind and humble. Thank your service workers, surgeons, nurses, secraties, teachers, and sanitation workers. etc. The world quite literally would not be the same without them (or you!) here.