Have you ever met someone who said they could make you a star?
I haven’t, but I know it from movies.

But I have experienced situations that were comparable to that Hollywood-esque situation, and I can tell you that even those watered down, simplified and far less suave offers that were going to make me the money and the glory, were absolutely irresistible.
But they always fell through, and in hindsight I think it was because they sensed I would be trouble.

They sensed that although I had the qualities, I had what it takes, I also had something else:
One hell of a personality.
My tongue (the things I could say) could break the spine of a grown man, and that was just counting the intentional side of it. The self-defense, side of it.
How many spines, egos, and thin or thick layers of veneer came down by simply breathing?
Probably too many to count.

Naturally, that was not how I viewed it at the time.
At the time, I was deeply frustrated they did not call back, or that I wasn’t selected, or that the chance or opportunity that was already granted to me, was revoked or not followed through on without explanation.
When now, looking back, I can see it has been my biggest blessing.

Nothing is a full-proof protection against violence and manipulation, against exploitation and systemic abuse. And the best protection is privilege, including parental protection.
Something I had in spades.

I owe it first and foremost to my parents, that my life has been smooth. Although around the time I was 30, I made what I see as a huge mistake that has cost me 20 years of my life (even though I also know that nothing is ever lost, and there are no bad mistakes);
But that was my own mistake.
I didn’t do drugs, but I might as well have – that’s how totally off-path I consider those decades were. Although there are also moments I can see it went all exactly as it should have gone.
And even:
That I would not want to trade it!

But the blessing of not having been snatched by some kind of sexual or financial predator and of not having known abuse in the vulnerable years up  until 25, was also thanks to my ability to be aggressive in my language and to having a set of fully functional boundaries.

That too, has protected me from situations where I would have been vulnerable and powerless. Situations where I would have been bound by contracts or would have been under pressure of agencies that were getting money out of deals my silent compliance was required for.

It is not unthinkable that my ability to defend myself, has saved my life.
Both because I intervened quickly when something happened, usually by walking away but resorting to other means if required, as well as my strong personality preventing those situations from happening altogether.

But they might have also kept me from getting offers to “make me a star”! 
Still would fall for it, wouldn’t you?
“I could make you a star….”
Oh, the seduction!
“I can make you, <insert your name>, a ROCK STAR!”
Oh baby, where do I sign up?

No, it is definitely not because I cannot be seduced, I was spared much misery and smothering contracts.
I can be seduced, and as the quite graphic yet also very common Dutch expression goes, I can be seduced with “one wet finger”. 

But no one ever promised to make me a star, nor seduced me to be a Rock Star.

And in all probability, no one has asked you either.
Because you too, would be trouble.
And because I fooled you a bit… Stars? Yes, they can be created.
By savvy agents, by important people in the industry, even by the people closest to them, like the parents or a spouse.

But Rock Stars?
Well…. Rock Stars can be created too, you know.
But only by one person.

You.

But again, that’s still not totally accurate, because you were born this way. You could not NOT be a Rock Star, even if your money, fame, your very life, depended on it.

In practice, there is only one truth and one truth only:
In all your talented, feisty and disruptive glory-
You already are, a Rock Star.

~Suzanne
become the Rock Star you were born to be

Yes, I know!
Let’s rock this 😎
9 Sept 2026

You. Are. A. Rock Star. | 2023 02 06
was the fourth Catacombe Rock Star post

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💎 This post was revisited and upgraded on Wednesday 9 September 2026.

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🗞️📰 since MAY 2024: SUBSTACK