QOTD -

"Just because someone has fancy sneakers doesn't mean they can run faster." Jon Bon Jovi, American musician

This reminds me of something from many years ago, while I was still pursuing a career as an actor.

At the time, like most actors, I spent much of each week in class (acting class, dance class, singing lessons), in rehearsal for class, waiting on line for auditions, knocking on the doors of agents, taking "workshops" that were said to guarantee meetings with agents, pooling with other actors to stage "showcase" productions that we hoped would attract agents…I'm sure you've seen enough backstage movies to know what I mean. 

One day my college roommate mentioned that a mutual friend, who was also an actress, wryly described this as "being employed full time looking for work." I thought it was extremely well put. But I couldn't help but point out that for the other woman, this was at least her only job. She was paying for all of this with a trust fund. I, on the other hand, was working a series of office jobs, often on the overnight shift because it paid better, and running up credit card debt for expensive things like head shots and professional hair dye. 

To bring this back to Bon Jovi's sneaker remark, this woman and I were both in the same race and she didn't finish any better than I; we neither of us got very far. However, she was a lot more comfortable in her fancy sneakers that I was running barefoot. And, thirty years later, I'm still dealing with the damage to my unprotected feet. So yeah, while fancy sneakers don't guarantee the finish, they sure make the race a whole lot easier to run.



Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar