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| “It’s my life, my time to find the answers. Don’t always know what kind of road’s in front of me, but I’ll go slow, wanna remember every moment that passes by because this ride is everything. It’s my life.” It might seem strange to select someone like Bo Bice, who we know primarily through his appearance on the reality television show American Idol, as an example of someone who is the real thing. But in many ways the recent popularity of reality shows and documentaries is actually one of many indications of how just much we yearn to escape from hyper-reality and reconnect with a real world. I find his story illustrates a very positive trend – that television, the Internet and other forms of electronic media are already becoming an important catalyst, sparking our desire to “get real.” After all, 90% of our clients here at the Institute find us through our website; I completed my entire PhD online; and our newsletter is only disseminated via e-mail; nonetheless each offers a doorway for reconnecting with ourselves through the joy of nature. Most particularly I believe the enormous popularity this dedicated songwriter, singer and musician has enjoyed over his past year, including being voted Most Popular Reality Star of 2005, is directly related to just how real he has managed to remain in the hyper-real world of entertainment. Bice says he can’t remember life without music. It has been his passion from early childhood. By the time he auditioned for American Idol he already had his own band, had written and recorded many original songs and mastered a number of musical instruments including piano, guitar, bass, and sax. He’d been working for ten years to hone his craft as a musician. But, like for so many of us, he had to endure a long chain of “day jobs” to support his quest to follow this path he loved. |
