Turn on the television, listen to the radio, and look at the cover of a magazine; they’re everywhere.

We invite them into our homes every evening, celebrate their babies’ births and are even on a first name basis with them.

They are celebrities and although we will probably never meet them, we tend to obsessively fixate on them.

In America, celebrities are like royalty that we put up on pedestals.

Celebrities are movie stars, actors and actresses on our favorite TV shows, reality stars and sports figures. Teenagers and young adults want to dress like them, talk like them and be like them.

And although celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan make headlines on a regular basis for less than flattering reasons such as drug arrests and sex tapes, teens still want to emulate them.

People are so infatuated with celebrities, who live such over the top lives, that fantasizing about their favorite celeb’s extraordinary life becomes a way to escape reality for some.

People are not content with what they have – we always want more.

The celebrity business is a multibillion-dollar industry with people just waiting to cash in. They are selling people an image, a style and a way of life your average person can never attain.

Now we get bombarded with celebrity updates and news 24/7. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have given the industry more ways of feeding us our daily intake of celebrity news.

Instead of being obsessed with outer beauty, let’s be obsessed with inner beauty. Let’s idolize and admire people for their struggles, accomplishments and positive influence on society.

Be the change. Instead of following celebrity trends start your own that empower and encourage others to do the same.

Contact Soledad Lopez at Contact [email protected]