I wrote a piece once about Late Bloomers. I’m a late bloomer – sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever blossom into whatever it is I’m hustling towards – and that’s ok. I wrote that being a late bloomer is a lovely thing. You get the time to learn who you really are and what you really want in life. And when you do blossom, you’re fully realized. You’re you.
But the only way to actually blossom when you’re a late bloomer is to keep doing the work. Keep working. Keep on keepin’ on. Because plenty of people, most especially you, are going to tell you to give it up. It hasn’t happened yet, and all around you people are winning awards, getting promotions, making money, increasing their savings, having babies, buying their first, second, third houses, traveling the world – business class, and you’re still hustling. You’re still working to make it – whatever make it means for you.
Let’s say you’re a writer and producer in Hollywood, and all around you people are signing contracts to produce their TV series, make their movies, they’re winning awards, getting magazine covers, making millions. But not you, you’re still in your apartment, working on another script, pitching your show, shooting the series on spec. And you’re 40. And the next wunderkind is a 23 year old genius. An amazing kid, lauded by everyone. What do you tell your self when even you wonder if you’ll ever get any validation for your hard work? You tell yourself you’re a boss just to keep going.
It’s so silly to me to assume we have to hit it out of the park the first time we go to bat. Or even the hundredth time. Playing the game, staying in the game, becoming experienced, that’s a good thing too. I think people who keep truckin’, who keep creating, those are the ones who end up making work, making art, with texture, layers, complexity, and appeal. Why is gaining more experience, life experience, experience absorbing failure and loss, a bad thing? It’s not. It’s a beautiful thing. You late bloomers who keep working at your stuff, you’re beautiful. You’re amazing. Not because you’re on YouTube at 13 tearing up the internet with your incredible voice and moves, but because you keep doing the WORK. You show up.
And because you gain all this experience from not giving up, when it is your turn to hold the mic, to be on the cover of a magazine, to accept that promotion, to buy your house, to travel abroad, to be a parent, you are prepared. You are unshakeable, unbreakable. You are a survivor.
