by Lisa H Warren

Created on: July 23, 2008   Last Updated: July 31, 2008

What to say to the world in your 15 minutes of fame

That "fifteen minutes" of fame wouldn't afford offer much time or power to do or say any of the things that need doing and saying, so I would choose my words very carefully.

What I would say would depend on what led me to that fifteen minutes of fame. If I had that fifteen minutes as a result of being a victim of one thing or another, I'd probably choose to deflect attention from my personal story and instead turn my fame in a matter of raising awareness on behalf of other victims.

If an accomplishment were responsible for my having that fifteen minutes, I'd again, I think, try to deflect the focus from myself. Instead, I'd find a way to talk about a subject related to my accomplishment in a way that may help others see how they, themselves, might be able to contribute to furthering that cause. If accomplishment were the reason I had my fifteen minutes I would, of course, scour my mind to figure out if there were anyone I should thank. Off hand, I can't think of anyone (other than my deceased parents) who would likely be the reason I would accomplish anything. In fact, if I ever accomplish something that will get me fifteen minutes of fame it will be in spite of other people - not because of them. (Those parents of mine raised an independent-minded daughter, and if I ever accomplish anything important it will most likely be the result of that independent thinking and "getting there" on my own - not the result of someone else's being responsible for my getting there.)

So, having thought out my approach to what I'd say (and having ruled out having that fifteen minutes as a result of being a victim), I think I'd say something like this:

"Hello, World. I'm not at comfortable being here today, because whatever it is that I seemed to have accomplished was never intended to bring me even fifteen minutes of fame. My speech will be brief (and, in fact, I may have to write it, print it, and mail it to you; because I have never quite been able to entirely overcome some of the shyness that I've always had).

Fortunately, I only have to worry about expressing what I have to say for that fifteen minutes; and that's why, in spite of my shyness, it only makes sense to make the best possible use of this time.

World, I'm only one person, and other than whatever it is I accomplished to get me here, the only other things I've ever accomplished in life are being a mother to my three children and generally being a kind person. In fact,

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