THE THIRD ACT
F. Scott Fitzgerald famously once said “There are no second acts in American lives.” The phrase has been interpreted and misinterpreted quite a bit over time. But like a good theater production, most lives are three act plays. We, the ones who live those lives, are participants contemporaneously with being an audience, assuming one has a strong sense of self-awareness. We may not know when each act ends or the next begins until the transition has occurred.
For example, I put my first thirty-three years into one initial act. In it, I began life, received an education, became both a reprobate as well as a survivor, made a few mistakes and atoned for them, set out on a journey almost Odyssean in nature, before coming home, so to speak, living and working in Boston.
It was several years after I met the woman who has now been my wife of twenty-five years while living in Boston and followed her to her home of Wichita, KS that I could consider that portion of my life to be a second act. One might think it to be the finale, the romantic fantasy and the happily-ever-after music swelling up. But, as they say, it was only the beginning. Transitions, growth, failure, understanding are all the hallmarks of the excitement one feels watching an identifiable hero go through several jousts and battles with dragons, as it were.
Age, the creeping ailment of all humans, creates an awareness of a third and final act. You may plan for it, set a date, have a target, but as with all change, you won’t know until you get there.
For me, it was finally finding a house to move into during what is typically referred to as downsizing. Not as big, not so many stairs, still enough space but not as much, thereby requiring purging, donating, selling, giving away, or just plain throwing out. Most people don’t take inventory of their possessions or their lives while we are all “in transit.” You can understand why the digital age is more convenient as you pack countless boxes of books and DVDs. While you are thrilled to be proficient in culinary skills, you need to reconsider how many appliances you need in a smaller kitchen.
First, the move out. Then, selling the old home. Followed by Retirement, at least no longer working full-time for a company that regulates your life. And then…
Ah, there’s the rub. Writers can create other people’s stories but they might not be as proficient creating their own. Nor should they. Writers simply need to live, to experience Life in all its many splendors as well as its difficulties. I see the road sign ahead. This is the Third Act.
