By Georgie Bright Kunkel

To be special is to be at the right place at the right time. Every famous person had the intelligence and ingenuity to stand out from the crowd in some special way. It was the person who found themselves in the headlines that gained fame and notoriety. In centuries past, it was the warrior in battle who was lauded. Women were rarely thought to be worthy of fame. It was only when a woman was the only heir in a rich family hierarchy that she could attain power. The early kings established heralds who shouted out their glory. Now fast forward to modern times. Those who controlled the printing presses were the ones who decided what was newsworthy. Many women were forced to take pseudonyms in order to get into print. I was entranced by the woman who had to take the male name of George Sand to function in the mainstream of life. She even dressed in traditional male clothing so she could go out in public alone and associate with men who were allowed to meet at the local pub and discuss politics and the like. My own name, Georgie, gave me more status when those who read my name thought it represented a male.

People who were wealthy could rise above their peers and be honored in society. They initiated contact with the movers and shakers but ordinary people did not dare seek out their company. And what made a person able to rise above others in society? In earlier times it was being a member of high society at a level that could only be experienced by being born with a silver spoon in the mouth, as it were. It was rarely possible for a person to rise above birth status even when circumstances resulted in their coming into money. Those people with extraordinary intelligence and ability had to leave their own country and venture out into the world to find outlets for their talents in a time of static societal times. People such as Columbus who were brave enough to venture out into the unknown were bankrolled by royalty to be explorers. Columbus had the blessing of the queen who financed his outlay of ships to facilitate his venturing across the ocean. Before the world was explored in full, kings and queens gained importance by backing those adventurers who were willing to risk going into the unknown and claiming new land for their benefactors. What a lot of myths were believed about the unknown areas of the earth. Imagine believing that if one sailed far enough one might fall off the earth. It must have taken real guts to head across an ocean that had never before been explored by Europeans.

Every age has been dominated by power of some kind. Power of inheritance has now given rise to the power of money. In this age of innovation the person who is able to rise above others in developing technology is leader. In more cooperative societies there are more people who share the wealth. In our capitalistic system it is the one who has been able to amass individual wealth that has greater status. An example of wealth as power is evident on the television program Shark Tank.
Since death comes even to the rich, those who have amassed riches want to assure their places in heaven and to be remembered by establishing legacies in their names. Yes, as always, death structures life. There still is no immunity to one’s eventual death. So live well and enjoy the time on earth. In our special corner of the earth it is still possible to find happiness.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at 206-935-8663 or gnkunkel@comcast.net