Cleo

There is no escape.

My life guts are opened for the world to see, dissect, envy, aspire, critique, and criticize. Even when I sleep, the world sees the way my hair falls on the pillow, hears my gentle snores, and even follows the drool pattern closely.

I am a reality show celebrity.

My fans and critics think they know all about me, They sometimes think they even know the members of my family, and friends better than I do. They probably do, for they keenly observe and follow the goings-on in my so-called life.

Heck, even my pets are part of the show. I literally have a menagerie. Sadly, all these members are employees. I take stock of myself on a regular basis to avoid an identity crisis. I am my own employee in a carefully crafted reality show. It's all smoke, mirrors, and an illusion to fool the world. In the process, I must run a tight ship.

It's a tightrope walk deciding what to keep and what to spill. I mean, the idea is to show all. So, where is the catch?

I am clever to let people think they know everything about me. But they do not. I must let my viewers think my carefully crafted world is the way I live.

My net worth has exploded, and I am envied and emulated. A 24-hour day is encapsulated in an hour-long show. That is the viewer reality. It's funny I feature in that reality when I have my own. What happens outside this one hour viewer window are experiences they do not even think I have. The cast in my reality show family must put their most rating appealing behavior forward. It's a lot of hard work, this behind the scenes things viewers do not get to see.

Have you seen a swan in water? It glides in an easy, graceful manner. It's an art that belies the work going on underwater with the legs of the bird working very, very hard. That is our harsh reality in presenting an appealing show to our viewers.

Few things are spontaneous, and when that happens, it must be shaped, manicured, curated, and arranged in the order of importance to fall into the most natural looking category.

Even a mini catastrophe is a carefully crafted scenario.

The French have a name for artistically tricking the eye. It's called trompe l'oeil However, we go one step further and trick all the senses. Reality show creators are on top of their game.

I run this tight ship, and I am in control. Nothing is out of place, and if something is, it is intentional. If there should be something but it is not there, you the viewer, may not even notice. I am Oz to my unsuspecting audience.

Some folks call me a successful entrepreneur, the one who stayed relevant to times providing what people demanded to see. They are closer to the truth, yet there is a fallacy in the latter part of the sentence. The creators anticipated a demand even before floating out the product. Yes, we are proactive.

We are so used to manufacturing emotions, it is almost sociopathic. Sometimes, I cringe at the things we do to squeeze out some tears, or rile up an audience, or manipulate the scenario. We pretend we are the puppets, but we are pimping out feelings. We play our viewers, and we constantly must remind ourselves not to get played.

In the beginning, most of the items used to depict my lifestyle were borrowed. With renewals of the seasons, my material possessions have grown bigger and more expensive. Houses, yachts, planes are examples we never once had. We had to run pillar to post to rent, borrow, or beg to create a fake lifestyle. Now, thanks to viewers who demand our shows, we laugh all the way to the bank.

Companies now compete to win their product air time in our carefully crafted show. That merchandise viewers wish to buy because it was seen on our show did not just happen. It was placed strategically on the show by the marketing team to catch your eye. The product looked like I always had it there, right? Heck, how can I tell you the instructions? I've never used it.

If my viewers saw the true side of me, it is not within the false eyelashes, fake hair, fake smile and fake everything I "genuinely" create. I don't blame them, as I constantly remind myself I have a real beating heart. I don't remember when I drank my own Kool-Aid, but self-delusion can become a reality. This is why I need to hold on to authenticity like my life depended upon it.

If I do not regularly separate real from the fake, there's a high probability of losing myself. I must work hard to guard the real within.

Therefore, I have a favorite pet. She stars in every show like the others you've seen. Viewers take great pride rattling off the names of all my pets, but they do not know about this one. It is intentional. She sees everything, and even if viewers have seen every inch of my home, they have never seen her. I move her where the cameras are not allowed for that day. We never place her near highly reflective surfaces. I make sure I can see her as we record each show, and she has a special view from her home. She keeps me sane. She represents depths in me that you will never see. You can call her Cleo, that is a fake name to guard her privacy. It will do for now.Her fish-eye view from the glass bowl sees all, but in my world of illusion, she is the one who'll stay hidden. She symbolizes authenticity guarding a part of me no one will ever know or see. We're similar, Cleo and I. Capable of swimming in depths, we both live in glass bowls. It can be fun and exasperating to conceal more than we reveal.

Even when I sleep, my hair is carefully arranged on the pillow. My snores are gentle and intentional, that drool is realistic without being repulsive.

I am a reality show star, because I create your reality. In doing so, I will never give up mine.