Lots and lots . . . and lots of years ago (I am so very old, Dear Reader), when I was a wee boy, my Dear Old Dad and I went to a now-defunct all-sortsa-stuff store. Think Wal-Mart-lite. While standing in a check-out line, I saw nearby a guy who to this day is my all-time favorite sports figure. We’ll call him Sports Guy. Sports Guy was a first-ballot hall of famer in his sport, and universally admired.
Legions of people woulda love, love, loved to have had Sports Guy’s autograph. I was one of them.
I can’t remember if I actually started walking over to Sports Guy to ask for his autograph, or if I asked Dear Old Dad if I could do just that. Either way, Dear Old Dad surprised me by saying that I could not ask Sports Guy for his autograph, explaining that I should respect Sports Guy’s privacy and not bother him while he was doing his thing on his own time.
I was shocked. And crestfallen. I understood Dear Old Dad’s lesson. But it stung.
Down on the fame
Dear Old Dad’s made lotsa mistakes over the years. But in looking back, this wasn’t one of them.
In the intervening years, I’ve spent time with a handful of A-list celebrities in their “off hours.” But since the incident with Sports Guy, I’ve never once bothered any of them for any self-seeking purpose.
What’s more, my feelings about celebrities have changed. While I may greatly admire their accomplishments in their respective fields, I’m not at all in awe of them and don’t anticipate ever wanting an autograph.
To wit: a few years ago, The Missus and I were out to dinner with friends. As we were about to leave the restaurant, the restaurant owner visited our table and suggested that we wait around a little while because he’d been alerted that a celebrity would soon be coming in to dine.
As the rest of my group debated whether to stay, the owner returned and told us the celebrity’s name. We’ll call this person Big Star. Big Star is one of the most famous people on the planet. Upon learning the identity of this person, the rest of my group all but started foaming at the mouth and immediately decided to stick around, giddily plotting what they’d do when Big Star came in.
Me, tho? I couldn’t have cared less. I mean, it’s not like Big Star was gonna give us a long, private audience, indulge us with engaged, witty conversation, and say he wanted to be besties with us 4EVER!. I was itching to leave.
An hour later, and surrounded by his security entourage, Big Star was whisked to a private area of the restaurant. My group’s best laid plans to snap a photo of Big Star were in vain. I gritted at my teeth for the time wasted on something so silly.
But it illustrates my point. Celebrities just don’t impress me.
Does this mean that no one impresses me to the point of googlyeyedness, tho? No, it does not.
We can be heroes
So, if A-list celebrities don’t do that for me, then who does, you ask? Well, Dear Reader, in addition to The Missus, Thing One (The Elder), and Thing Two (The Younger), it might just be you. More to the point, it’s FIRE community people.
I’ve had the good fortune to have met amazing people in the FIRE community. “Luminaries,” influencers, and others who’ve influenced me in profound ways. I’m for sure impressed by them because of the good people they are—and they are all nice and generous people. But also, because of the amazing help they’ve given me, even if in some cases unbeknownst to them (unless and until I’ve told them as much).
Sure, Sports Guy and Big Star have given me tons of hours of entertainment. But neither they nor other celebrities I’ve met have done one jot to help me achieve the wildly good life I’m fortunate enough to enjoy. Nada. Zippo.
FIRE community people, however, did. Lotsa them.
Such as “luminaries” who’ve blazed a trail of contrarian, creative, super-effective thinking, strategies, and/or tactics. Like Mr. Money Mustache himself, whose blog essentially was my gateway into the community and profoundly influential and helpful for me.
Or folks who’ve written or spoken publicly about cool stuff they’ve started and/or are doing because of FIRE. Like Ryan Brennan, founder of FI Service Corps, which empowers the FIRE community to give back by organizing experiential group volunteer trips and events, and inspired me to do more volunteer work.
Or people who’ve led educational sessions I’ve attended. Like Jackie Cummings Koski, who led the 2024 Econome breakout session at which I learned that I was eligible for health insurance premium credits for a health care exchange plan, and thereby led me down a path that’ll save The Family bigly monies.
I’m equally amazed and inspired by all manner of “regular folks” in the FIRE community (but let’s be honest, Dear Reader, is anyone in the community just “regular”?) doing super cool things. Like those in their 30s and 40s doing extended and/or extensive travel with the comfort of self-made financial security. And maybe (majorly) travel hacking the travel expenses, too. These folks’ travels and mindsets have changed how I now look at the extended travel I soon hope to do.
Then there are those who’ve created cool goods or services as a passion project. Or who’ve really and truly retired early and (from my discerning perspective) are living their best lives and have no material financial cares. And so many more.
It’s an embarrassment of riches. Figuratively and literally.
And in the end . . .
All these folks have contributed to my and The Family’s incredibly good fortune (literal and figurative fortune) and inspire me. I often think to myself, “How did I get so lucky as to meet and get to be friends with these people?!” Put another way, I think you’re amazing.
