And in Hindsight...

After venting my spleen in my last bitter blog entry, I talked to my father and then my sister. In their wisdom, they both helped me put things in perspective.

I have no reason to feel any envy for Sophie's seemingly good fortune. Yes, she won a million dollars, but at what cost? To get that money, she sacrificed her dignity to the altar of reality TV. All she did was prove that in modern society, people will go to ridiculous and obscene lengths to obtain material wealth.
As I spoke to my family, I realize that my dignity and pride, all that I really have, do not have a price tag. That I would rather be poor, I would rather be what I am now, than sell myself out in exchange for some lousy dollars, which after taxes (unless of course, Sophie decided to commit the white collar crime of tax evasion) will be a mere pittance.

So she has some money. What is money but a pile of paper? Some numbers? It will bring her no joy, no nirvana. Material goods provide a temporary pleasure, but they cannot beat the euphoria that comes with drumming at a powwow, and watching people dance to the songs that you sing. She will never experience the Eagle Dance, the Hoop Dance or even a simple Candy Dance. She will never dive into the river after a good powwow, or sit in a tipi on a rainy night. She will never get to drink Sumac tea with a clan chief, or participate in a sacred water ceremony.
I am truly blessed.
In this year alone, I have reaped so much good fortune of my own, of a sort entirely different from monetary gain. Sophie may have money, may have 15 minutes of fame, but she certainly can't say that's she's part of something sacred, that she's helping keep a culture alive. If anything, she's now a part of the machine that destroys culture.

Money isn't forever, and neither is fame. On a grander scale, it means absolutely nothing,

So here it is. I feel much better now. If I weren't recovering from my breast reduction, I'd whip out hand drum, and sing White Sky. Oh fuck it, I'll sing White Sky anyway, drum or no drum.