Dont Build it for the Background

I see it all the time at the cellphone store where I work, the moment a new device is purchased, we must accessorize! We must download a dozen new apps .. before we even know how to turn the device on. How many features on how many products have we never heard of, never read the instructions for (instructions? they went out with the box and receipt)... the 'thing' we bought quickly recedes into the background .. the cake disappears under the icing. Now maybe Im just an icing man but

The same seems true of building/restoring/acquiring a planetarium projector and dome. Im fighting it right now with my biggest ever star projector hand made - that 'ok its done, the stars are there.. now what' feeling. I need special effects! I need software to go with the hardware!. the Stars are Never Enough it seems. Im having to reel myself in and think .. I didnt build it for the background. Isnt that whats happened to most planetariums?

Why arent the stars good enough? Why isnt Rigel and Antares just as important as .. (insert 20 special effects and videos here). Is it because our imaginations have been replaced?

So I say, dont build it for the background. Keep the stars in the foreground. Effects, other subjects .. icing ... can be done of course in other ways. But enjoy what you so painstakingly have produced - the night sky.. first. It may be enough.