SOONER OR LATER
I’m not sure where the notion of becoming a millionaire before you turned thirty came about. Perhaps it started after WWII when America grew more prosperous and opportunities flourished in the wake of the Great Depression. I never really had that as a dream growing up in the 60’s and 70’s but I would hear it all the time. Naturally, I wouldn’t have turned down the chance to be wealthy and successful at a young age but I didn’t see it happening.
When I went to college to study film-making and creative writing, my fertile imagination had me winning awards and writing screenplays for the biggest actors, actresses, and directors at the time. The problem was I was more eager than skilled. My twenties came and went and I had a three-ring binder filled with poems, a handful of short stories, a lot of ideas, and very little opportunities or definable talent.
What would have happened had I been more diligent, focused more on craft, and fostered more professional relationships? It’s hard to tell really because the course of my life went as it did, not as it “should have”, at least according to the aspirations of those of my time. The “alternate timeline” is the stuff of fiction.
The field I would pursue artistically was different than those of other professions: engineers, lawyers, doctors, accountants, etc. There is a definitive educational standard: law school and the bar; medical school and residency; or passing the Uniform CPA exam. Art is a progressive learning experience, based on application of given standards in the hope that the personal voice or vision becomes clear and precise.
I’ve documented my journey on the pages of this blog. The steps, the years, the moderate successes, the unfortunate setbacks. At the age of 63, it’s too late for regrets or speculation. By the same token, I have six books published through The Wild Rose Press, a seventh due out later this year; two out-of-print books from 2012-2014; I’ve been a speaker at a writer’s conference three times with a fourth coming up later this year; and I’m the co-host of Tikiman and the Viking Podcast.
You can ride the see-saw when it comes to discussions of when it is best to attain success. If you do so when you’re younger, you might have more time to enjoy it, or you might not appreciate it as much. You could become bitter as you age, or grateful for what comes along. The key, though, isn’t at what age you achieve it but how you define it.
I am not on any bestseller’s lists, have not won any major significant national or international awards, and perhaps only a solid handful of writers know me personally while social media acquaintances pay attention to me every now and again. To be doing what I love and to continue to love doing it is the real definition of success.
The notion of sooner or later is irrelevant at this point in my life. There are no regrets for what I didn’t accomplish because of what I never attempted. With a fertile imagination and a gracious appreciation for all that is happening now, I continue to move forward each day, proud of what I have accomplished and still dazzled by the possibilities of the future.
