Are You in a Glass House?

If I told you I lived a life of drug use and lied for years about it, allowed my child to see me in years of a destructive marriage, and probably scores of other things, what would you say?

I'd tell you what you'd say. Most would say nothing, cause other than the info in this blog, you don't know much about me. The one or two reading that do know me, would probably be shocked, but probably wouldn't say anything about it (well at least not to my face...)

I just watched the Whitney Houston interview on Oprah and am completely floored. And proud...say what you want, Whitney Houston was honest like she has never ever probably been allowed to be before. She said things we knew but said a whole lot more that we didn't. And some of it wasn't pretty, but guess what? She said it anyway.

I loved her ability to tell it all....I loved her strength to share with the world things that we probably have no right to know. And I'm jealous that she got to admit some wrongs that I probably never will. I know what she's feeling. Sometimes you go through life working hardest to hide the things that are "unpretty". Eventually you get to a place where the strength you put into making your life seem as perfect as possible can drain you. Yelling "HEY, I'm human!" is like a cathartic release of so many things.

The one tricky thing about celebrity is that you can either chose to live a lie, or chose to tell the truth no matter what the consequence. And whatever you do, people feel the need to examine, judge, and scrutinize every single thing. Ms. Houston did what many don't ever find the strength to do. Purge and purge gracefully. Say what you want about her, but if you do you'd only be throwing throwing stones at her glass house....

I can't imagine being asked questions about some of the biggest mistakes of my life. I'm one who believes that celebrities mistakes only seem bigger or more wrong cause unfortunately, they're never allowed to make those mistakes in private. I guess that's the source of my appreciation for what she did. She allowed herself to be put under scrutiny, but her truthfulness reminds me that life's circumstances allow you to grow only if you let it, whether its behind closed doors or in her case in the eyes of millions.

I heart Whitney, she truly has the "voice". But now that I've seen her in her strongest moment, I love AND respect her. My defining moment in her interview; Oprah asked her "Do you know your own strength?" Her response "I know from whence cometh my help".... Something I've learned and continuing to learn, my strength lies in the knowledge that I don't have to be strong alone.