August 27 marked my “three year anniversary” of living in LA. I’ve been thinking about this journey I have been on out here – the things I have accomplished, the things towards which I am still working, and the things I have discovered that I never would have expected.
When I decided to move to LA, I had only ever been here once before. Besides sunshine, palm trees, and traffic, I really had no idea what to expect.
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| stopping to smell the roses on my first day in LA… in the rental car parking lot at LAX. so magical :) |
Sometimes I still can’t believe I actually did it. So much unknown. I left my comfort zone completely – my family, my friends, my entire life I had known in Dallas – to throw myself into an overcrowded city full of people trying to “make it big.” (And where apparently when a light turns red, that means at least three cars turn left.)
But as scary as the unknown can be, the excitement of it, especially in a town with as many opportunities as this one, prevailed. Each day here arrives full of endless opportunity.
Are those opportunities easy to grasp? No. It takes hard work, endless perseverance.
I have a long way to go. Do I wish I was a series regular on a tv show? Sure. But I have been on a tv show. There’s a start.
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| my first time on Hollywood Blvd. I plan on showing this to Leno when I’m a guest on his show one day :) |
And I have discovered opportunities to do more than just act. I’ve discovered that I love writing – everything from this blog to a web series we are currently shooting to a feature film I am starting to write.
The other day my dad and I were having a deep convo about life – talking about career paths, the unknown, and looking to the future but enjoying the stage of life you are in. And as per usual, he brought up a song that talks about these very things. It’s a James Taylor’s song called The Secret of Life, and in it he says:
“The Secret of Life is enjoying the passage of time. Any fool can do it. There ain’t nothing to it.”
I’m not going to lie: some days I feel like I’m wandering around aimlessly here in LA. Some days I feel like I’m not making any progress at all. Some days I doubt this whole thing completely. But I’m also not going to lie – I’m having a lot of fun in the midst of it.
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| I mean… this is just another Thursday night in LA. Summer concerts at the Santa Monica Pier. |
James goes on to sing what I think is one of the most profound lyrics I’ve ever heard:
“Nobody knows how they got to the top of the hill.”
This is so true. Ask anyone who is successful how they got there, and most likely they will say they have no idea. They didn’t necessarily have a plan or a set of steps that would bring the level of success they have achieved today. They might not have even been aware of the possibility to do what they do now.
They merely took one step at a time, following their hearts and making the most of every opportunity that came along.
In this industry especially, there is no cookie cutter mold. There’s no formula, “if you do a + b, you will get c.” It just doesn’t work that way.
The truth is, no matter what industry we are in, we never know where the path we are walking down will lead.
I certainly don’t know what tomorrow will bring here.
But just like on my first day in LA – the excitement of endless opportunities prevails over the fear of the endless unknown.
So I guess what I’ve learned these last three years is to have faith. To put one foot in front of the other. To take it one step at a time.
Oh. And to not forget to stop and smell the roses along the way.
