Powerful Words From Cameron Diaz About Money, Fame, & Happiness

by Arjun Walia
Collective Evolution

“To succeed in your professional life isn’t that hard, but to succeed in your personal life is a lot harder. To really be a human is a lot harder. We forget about that.” – Yann Arthus-Bertand, director of the film Human, from which the clip below was taken from.

Celebrities using their voice to inspire people and create awareness about important issues seems to be an emerging trend in popular culture. This is very encouraging and something we need more of, especially given the fact that, unfortunately, some of them are made to be worshipped like gods. Many people want to be like them and look like them, and will buy any product a celebrity claims to use to further this goal. Celebrities are often used as corporate billboards as well, literally functioning as powerful tools for various corporations and being treated accordingly. They are huge money makers who develop, in some cases, a cult-like following. Here is a great video of Lady Gaga expressing this reality, among other things.

Russell Brand is another great example of someone who is using their fame to help spark and create change. We also see that with Jim Carrey, who has recently had some of his inspiring messages to humanity go viral. Woody Harrelson has done the same, along with many others.

Below is yet another example, this time from actress Cameron Diaz. In the video, she explains why fame or money will not bring you happiness. Sure, money is a necessary tool in our world, and while it doesn’t have to be this way, as things currently stand we do need it to survive. That being said, if you are constantly searching for money, material wealth, or fame because you think it will make you happy, you are sure to be disappointed. If we join the search for possessions and other external sources of happiness, we will be searching our entire lives.

You might be thinking, “Yeah, I already know this,” but some people don’t, and some people are so caught up life in general that we rarely take time to stop and observe ourselves, to see the big picture and ask, “What’s really going on here?” What are we doing? Why are we unhappy? Is it because we are looking for it in all the wrong places? What’s worse, many of us know this already but do not act upon this wisdom.

Real happiness is an inside job, don’t you think? The type of nourishment one needs in order to experience joyful and happy states does not come from acquiring ‘stuff’ that we think we want, it comes from within — from your thoughts and how you perceive the world, from giving to others, from being kind, from forming relationships with other human beings. Ask yourself, are your thoughts and wants even your own, or have they been programmed into you by mass media and entertainment?

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