Ever since I stepped aside, temporarily, from performing and promoting, etc, I've had time to reflect a bit. I realized that in the past few years I've come across some interesting personalities, and experiences. I must say, even a small amount of success or 30 seconds in the limelight can bring out interesting behavior in people. Both as the recipients of attention or as observers of it. 

What I'm having trouble justifying, or making some sense of is this matter of jealousy and envy that people express either directly or passively. It's by no means limited to the entertainment industry or to industry at all. I think it's all very personal. It seems some people just believe, genuinely, that they hold a right to be jealous of others for their successes or for being happy. Friend or stranger can blatantly resent, and feel entitled to do so, for no real reason. What is that about exactly? And, how could anyone not be embarrassed of being jealous?

As I understand it, it takes quite a bit of emptiness and misery within to feel envy. You have to be pretty unsatisfied with your own self to focus so much on others.  But where does the entitlement come from? Is it arrogance? And isn't arrogance a choice? I believe that ethics and morality are things we choose to include in our personalities. So, if you choose to be arrogant (which usually stems from ignorance) it's really no one's fault but your own, no? And if you are that miserable, so much so that you can't even love yourself enough to be fulfilled, who is stopping you from improving your own life?

So, I think, maybe, instead of hating on people who have what we want, one could direct that energy into improving their own self first. Learn to appreciate what you do have perhaps. In the end, we are each responsible for the world we create and the life we live.

And that's my two cents.