I am entering a stage in my LA life where I get to meet my heroes. Sometimes it's a social interaction, sometimes it's professional, but always, it's strange. Whenever someone has lived in the aether for so long as an idea to admire and they are suddenly incarnate in your life as flesh and blood, it feels jarring. This past weekend I found myself house and pet-sitting for a showrunner that I've known of for years. It was surreal, and I can't imagine how it will feel when I meet the people who created the shows I adore.
The common denominator I'm getting from these interactions is the importance of recognizing the artist's humanity. They may have made something great, they may be "famous," but at the heart, they're still a human. They might have a four-million dollar house, but they still need love like all of us. To put it mildly, they are not their shows. I create this massive persona for them, but I don't know them yet. I need to do them the courtesy of getting to know them, treating them like a human. I'm still figuring it out, but maybe that's what this stage of my life is for: separating the art from the artist and treating them with the courtesy... and in the same breath, recognizing the preciousness of every single person I meet, famous or not. Every human is a child of God, and so very precious.