I recall reading a Sufi analogy that if the Sun is aspiration for truth and our shadows are our worldly success , then when we aim for the illumination of the Sun our shadows will followus , but will not be our primary concern .
If instead we try to follow our shadows , we can never truly catch them . Certainly they won ' t illuminate us .
Yet research suggests that more and more people are focusing on trying to catch their shadows while forsaking the Sun - and it may be hurting them .
Shooting for the moon without a rocket
A 2020 report from Morning Consult shows that aspirations to be famous are on the rise : 23 % of Gen Z adults say being famous is important to them , versus 15 % for millennials and only 8 % for Gen X .[ 1 ]
So what ' s behind this dramatic trend ?
Well , a full exploration of this question is beyond the scope of this piece ! But I was interested to see a UCLA report that laid at least part of the blame on TV .[ 2 ]
The study , by Yalda T . Uhls and Dr Patricia Greenfield , looked at 16 values communicated in tween ( age 9 to 11 ) TV shows from 1967 through to 2007 . Participants watched the shows , and were asked to rank those values by the importance they were given .
Every year up to 2007 , fame ranked near the bottom of the list . Yet in 2007 , it skyrocketed to number 1 . Other individualistic values , such as financial success and