When it comes to pursuing your dreams, what is more important…being talented or having persistence? Most would say that both are key to achieving one’s dream. I guess it all depends on what you’re striving for. For me as a screenwriter, you would think that having talent is way more crucial and I felt that way…21 years ago. With aspirations of becoming a screenwriter, I worked and slaved through countless of writing classes both in college and outside. Along the way I’ve met numerous people with the same aspirations, with differing degrees of talent but all with the same drive. I’ve gotten a chance to peruse their writing styles and felt quite intimidated to say the least. Seeing their words flow like art on paper made me feel like I had no business being in their league. Who was I to think that I could make it as a writer. Let me tell you, it was a bit disheartening at first, but it was something that I knew in my heart that I just had to do. I had the opportunity to meet a highly regarded and established screenwriter at a writing conference years and years ago; I’ll never forget what he said to all of us fledgling writers. He told us that the key to attaining our goal, while talent is important, is “persistence.” Some of the best writers he met while pursing his dreams were way more talented; but in the end, no matter what obstacle he faced, he was the victor because he was relentless in his pursuit of his dream. To this very day, those words are etched in my memory. I’ve been tirelessly writing, trying to better myself and my craft; I’m not the best writer in the world but I know for certain that I’m not the worst. I’ve even met up with some of those “aspiring writers” from my past and suffice to say, they are no longer in the game. Despite feeling inadequate about my writing ability, I was tenacious in my pursuit. So to answer the question “Talent or persistence?” , I’ll take persistence all the time. Although success has eluded me, I know that if I keep trudging on…one day it’ll happen. I can dream can’t I?
When life hands you lemons…make chocolate cake & make them wonder.
Ever had one of those days when you just say “Why me?!” or “When will something good ever happen to me?“. It always seems that some people have all the luck and things just fall perfectly into place for them. They put up no effort and it easily falls into their lap while the rest of us claw our way through the muck just to get a sample of what it could be like if we were blessed with good fortune. Yes I’ll break down every once in awhile and have a “pity party” all to myself; I’m entitled to one. Life’s unfair, I get that…but does it have to always be the case for the things that I dream of or for things that I truly want. Working tirelessly with grim determination toward my dreams can be a reward unto itself…at least I have a dream. Some people go through life content with what they have and where they are, that’s fine. But don’t you think that striving for something, heck anything, makes life worth living for. Maybe all of my trials and tribulations will make me appreciate everything when I do achieve my dream. Yes, I did say “When I do achieve my dream“; that was no mistake. I’m an eternal optimist when it comes to my dream; you have to be otherwise what’s the point. So I guess when my life starts to go sideways and veer onto that rough terrain; I just need to “cowboy up” and go along for the ride. Like that saying goes, “When life hands you lemons, make chocolate cake and keep them wondering!”
My daily horoscope said what?!
Normally I don’t take stock in what my daily horoscope has to say. Usually it’s just a footnote when I peruse the internet, but lately for some reason that is the first thing on my daily agenda. Be it coincidence or divine intervention, I’m hoping it’s the latter, those words hold meaning. On March 2nd, 2015, there was nothing interesting on the internet…yep, nothing earth-shattering…so I decided to take a glance at what my horoscope had to say. I click on Capricorn and the advice that was given pertained to what was going on in my life. I chalked it up to mere coincidence and explored my usual sites. The next day, I checked out my horoscope again and the words once again reflected true to nature, “Nah” I thought just pure dumb luck. The following day my eyes shot past important things and straight to…yep, my daily horoscope. The advice for that day once again pertain to all the goings on in my life; I looked over my shoulder just to make sure that I wasn’t being punk’d by Rod Serling. Since then, my daily horoscope is the first and foremost thing that I have to check out first thing in the morning. As of this writing, as zany as it may sound for some strange reason…no scratch that…some divine intervention, my daily horoscope reflects what is currently happening in my life. Something inside me doesn’t want this to end because it’s as if I have my own private therapist guiding me on my life’s journey. But like all journeys, this’ll come to an end and I’ll go back to being cynical about horoscopes; until that happens, I’m just going to enjoy the ride and hope that what my horoscope says comes true in the upcoming weeks.
When our parents become vulnerable…
When we’re growing up we all saw our parents as invincible; nothing could hurt them, they’ll never age, they’ll live forever. As we got older they became a little worse for wear but still kept going strong. The years rolled by…hours turned into days, days into months, months into years; and just like that, 10, 20, 30 years have passed. Our parents now showed signs of age and every little ache, injury or illness became that much more life-threatening to their well-being. Their invincibility demeanor had now dwindled in status and our perception of them changed. As their offspring, it was hard for us to see them as anything else other than “Super Dad” or “Super Mom”. Eventually the roles became reversed and we became their support, their protector, their care-giver. We worry for them non-stop, 24/7; and it’ll never end until it ends. But that’s the journey we all endure for our loved ones, our family…it’s a thankless job that comes with a priceless reward…and we would do it all over again if we had to.
Isn’t it annoying when…
One of my pet peeves in life is when you’re talking to a person, whether it be a friend, co-worker or family member, you give them 100% of your attention but when it’s their turn to reciprocate, they give you half of their attention. They either acknowledge an oncoming person beyond your sight line or carry on a tangent conversation with someone else and rejoin hearing you speak when they’re through. Have the decency to give respect to the person who sat there listening to every word you said and do the same. It just kills me when I have to repeat what was already said; at that point I feel that the line of communication is completely and utterly destroyed. I don’t even want to continue to speak let alone look at the person. Don’t even get me started on those people that interrupt a conversation just to say something trivial; that’s another pet peeve for a future post.
Feeling 19th Century in a 21st Century world
Is it just me or do you need an I.Q. of 150 or above to do things in the world we live in? I tell you, with the latest phones, TV’s, computer devices, you have to be a freakin’ whiz to just be able to operate them. It takes me a good week and a half to be able to properly become proficient on these tech things. I’m even trying to get a handle on creating a functional blog site. So much information overload, just so damn overwhelming. How do these young kids do it? I know it’s the norm for them but REALLY!? Just trying to catch up to these kids is a chore in itself. They soak up this world and everything it has to offer faster than the speed of light and instantly become an expert. If they were somehow transplanted back in the 19th Century, they’d probably be geniuses. Can’t complain though, I’m improving my knowledge and with a little luck I can hopefully someday feel like I actually belong in the 21st Century.
My First Blog post…
Well…it was inevitable that I would be like the millions of people around the world creating a blog site to post my opinions about life or some other random thing just for the sake of doing so. Is it therapeutic? Is it narcissism? Is it so that I can be just like the others? Or just 21st century marketing of my stories to the world to make my dreams of being a screenwriter come to fruition? Maybe it’s all of the above…who knows? All I know for sure is that it’ll be a new journey for me and whatever path this takes me down will be an adventure of itself. So I say to myself…“Let’s get started and enjoy the ride!”
Midlife, Maniacal & Me 