Two Fallen Stars

By Namaste Publishing Staff

“I wanted to be someone,” she said.

She became Playboy’s Playmate of the Year. She married a billionaire, Texan J. Howard Marshall II. She was an occasional actress and starred in her own reality TV show.

Though her life was one of fame, played out as a regular feature of the tabloids, Anna Nicole Smith apparently never became the one thing worth being in her short life—her own precious self.

Dead at age 39, she leaves a daughter, Dannielynn, only five months old, the subject of a paternity suit. A post mortem has so far failed to turn up the cause of the glamour model’s death, though an overdose has not been ruled out.

Anna Nicole reached out to for an identity borrowed from riches and fame. But her personal life was marked by struggle. Not just the paternity suit, with three claimants to fatherhood, but also her very public struggle with weight, and an unresolved struggle for her second husband’s estate.

Anna Nicole’s life was also marred by tragedy. Three days after she gave birth to her daughter, her son, age 20, went to see her in her Bahamas hospital room. He died in that same hospital room from an overdose.

Though she was surrounded by people who wanted to be in her company, and was seemingly never alone, Anna Nicole appeared incredibly lonely. In this, she mirrors so many who long for fulfillment but don’t find it.

When the void in our lives is huge, it doesn’t matter how much fame, glamour, wealth, or popularity we garner. Nothing outside of us can satisfy such an emptiness.

In the same week that Anna Nicole’s death occurred, another celebrity—of a very different kind—hit the headlines. American astronaut Lisa Nowak, 43, married and a mother of three, has been accused of attempted murder. It’s alleged she plotted to kidnap Colleen Shipman, wife of astronaut William Oefelein, driving hundreds of miles wearing a diaper so that she wouldn’t have to take bathroom breaks on her quest.

To become an astronaut ranks among one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of humanity. Despite her stellar career, Ms. Nowak hadn’t found the satisfaction we all crave. In the end, her emotional needs drove her to utterly illogical behavior.

How does someone get to the place that they are a star, with a cult-like following, and yet their personal life is in disarray?

If you don’t find fulfillment within yourself, you won’t find it anywhere. You may get a temporary transfusion of satisfaction from the world outside of you, but it’s not going to last. It isn’t solid—it’s a mirage. That’s because it’s not flowing from your own center. It’s conditional, dependent on the outer circumstances of your life.

The simple fact is, if you don’t go within, you go without.

The journey within—a journey that can “save us from ourselves” by introducing us to ourselves—is articulated for us in Michael Brown’s book The Presence Process. As certified Life Empowerment Coach Dana Carrero of Philadelphia writes, “The Presence Process by Michael Brown is the most profound book in its genre that I have ever experienced. The ideas presented, though deeply thought-provoking and far-reaching, are surprisingly accessible through the author's skillful use of metaphor, word reversals and phonetic dissections that make the text uniquely engaging and easy to absorb.”

Not only is Michael’s book easily accessible, it’s life-changing. Ms. Carrero explains, “If one commits to the 10 week Presence Process procedure which is straightforward and simple to follow, real and lasting, life altering results can truly be experienced.”

You don’t need to visit a counselor in order to benefit from The Presence Process. This is a process you can use in the privacy of your own home.

However, the book is also a useful tool for counselors, says Ms. Carrero: “As a counselor, life coach and meditation facilitator, my intention, through extensive study over many years, has been aimed at dealing correctively with issues in the human condition that block or hinder one from reaching their fullest potential. But only since reading and facilitating myself through The Presence Process have I discovered that by merely being a companion to those clients willing to take on the 10 week Presence Process for themselves, the most beneficial and sustainable results are achieved. The bottom line is there is great benefit for all of who are willing to become self-facilitators, fully responsible for their life experience. And The Presence Process delivers the ultimate ‘How To’ for doing just that!”

Whatever your walk of life, The Presence Process can enable you to find the fulfillment that eludes even the rich and famous when they haven’t discovered the essence of their being.