I feel that way all the time, and I'm 25. I work in theatre. Sometimes it feels like everyone has - quite literally - been doing this since professionally their teens (not even mentioning the actors, who all look like they've been doing it since they were minus-three-months-old). Every other night, I come home thinking about my childhood dream of being an accomplished theatre/film-person and have to face the idea that I probably won't even make any sort of leap into cinema, because I'm already too old.
... and you know what? The people I work with, young and old, just don't give a toss. I'm the person that cares most about age-related pressure in my immediate circle. So what, if I'm not the next Spielberg, or the next Elisabeth Taylor? Chances are, I would never have been one, even if I tried since I came out of the womb. I'm doing what I can with what I have, and it's not going too badly. Not brilliant, rather slow, and certainly not glamourous, but very, very fulfilling and even occasionally fun. And four years ago, I was miserable and thought my life was over because I was stuck in a world without theatre.
Sorry, I don't mean to hijack your post with ~~words of wisdom~~. Goodness knows I'm frustrated (with myself, mostly) most of the time. Sometimes it helps, though, to step out of yourself for a second and check if the world really finds you as big a failure as you think you are. It probably won't.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 03:34 am (UTC)I feel that way all the time, and I'm 25. I work in theatre. Sometimes it feels like everyone has - quite literally - been doing this since professionally their teens (not even mentioning the actors, who all look like they've been doing it since they were minus-three-months-old). Every other night, I come home thinking about my childhood dream of being an accomplished theatre/film-person and have to face the idea that I probably won't even make any sort of leap into cinema, because I'm already too old.
... and you know what? The people I work with, young and old, just don't give a toss. I'm the person that cares most about age-related pressure in my immediate circle. So what, if I'm not the next Spielberg, or the next Elisabeth Taylor? Chances are, I would never have been one, even if I tried since I came out of the womb. I'm doing what I can with what I have, and it's not going too badly. Not brilliant, rather slow, and certainly not glamourous, but very, very fulfilling and even occasionally fun. And four years ago, I was miserable and thought my life was over because I was stuck in a world without theatre.
Sorry, I don't mean to hijack your post with ~~words of wisdom~~. Goodness knows I'm frustrated (with myself, mostly) most of the time. Sometimes it helps, though, to step out of yourself for a second and check if the world really finds you as big a failure as you think you are. It probably won't.