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All death is sad. But he’ll get over it in time. He’ll get past this like every other bad thing that’s happened to us. That’s what humans do. We heal. We move on. A few months from now he’ll barely remember her. He’ll find another girlfriend, and he’ll be fine. Fuck it. We all have to move on.
If there was a way to shirk responsibility, I’d find it.
That’s a nice quality in a person: making someone else feel valued—even if that someone is currently on the bottom rung. I made a mental note.
If people don’t enhance your life, you have to get rid of them.
adult within us needs to keep an eye on the inner child.
Luck also played a part. Any successful actor or writer or artist will tell you that luck is a crucial factor. But the only way to get lucky is to be prepared for luck to find you. Writers write. Actors act. If you’re not constantly applying your talents to your craft, no one is going to stop you on the street and say, “Hey, come write this TV show!” Or, “I want you to star in my
The process of auditioning for TV pilots is a petri dish for self-doubt.
That’s the life. That’s why talent alone doesn’t cut it. If you want to be a successful actor, mental toughness is essential. Lay your whole self-worth on getting the role, on the illusion of validation, before long you’re left angry, resentful, and jealous. You’re doomed.
What if everyone you knew growing up said you were destined for greatness, you couldn’t miss, and then you missed? That’s not just failure. It’s collapse. It’s catastrophe. Maybe Walt was afraid of that. Maybe he just got cold feet. Maybe he got the yips.
The second way is to go inward. You go silent or become antisocial or self-medicate. Or you implode. That’s what happened to Walt. He imploded and then, poof, he became invisible. He was living a traceless life.
Character is both formed and revealed when we are tested, when we are forced to make decisions under pressure. That test can either make us stronger or it can highlight our weaknesses and crack us into pieces.
