Feb. 26: It was the best mistake I ever made
It was the best mistake of my life.
I am not sure how many times I've told this story but I will tell it again anyway. When I was 25, my life was going nowhere. I was unable to move out of my parents' house, stuck drifting from one minimum wage job to another, thoroughly depressed. I'd flunked out of theatre school and I was now old enough to realize that my childhood dream of being a professional actor would never come true. I had neither the talent, the drive, or the luck.
What I did have was an idea for a novel.
So I saved my money for eight months. When I had slightly over $3,000, I moved from Calgary to a small town in southeast Saskatchewan and I wrote. Over the course of my time there, I stumbled into journalism. Now, more than a decade later, I make my living in journalism.
The kicker is that I was actually thinking about going to journalism school. But instead of doing the practical thing, I chased a dream. I'm glad I did because I got the end result - a journalism job - without the massive high interest student loan.
The moral here is that you should take risks and follow your dreams. It's true that hard work will get you where you want to be, but you also have to take advantage of the ridiculous circumstances life will throw at you when you least expect them.
I am not sure how many times I've told this story but I will tell it again anyway. When I was 25, my life was going nowhere. I was unable to move out of my parents' house, stuck drifting from one minimum wage job to another, thoroughly depressed. I'd flunked out of theatre school and I was now old enough to realize that my childhood dream of being a professional actor would never come true. I had neither the talent, the drive, or the luck.
What I did have was an idea for a novel.
So I saved my money for eight months. When I had slightly over $3,000, I moved from Calgary to a small town in southeast Saskatchewan and I wrote. Over the course of my time there, I stumbled into journalism. Now, more than a decade later, I make my living in journalism.
The kicker is that I was actually thinking about going to journalism school. But instead of doing the practical thing, I chased a dream. I'm glad I did because I got the end result - a journalism job - without the massive high interest student loan.
The moral here is that you should take risks and follow your dreams. It's true that hard work will get you where you want to be, but you also have to take advantage of the ridiculous circumstances life will throw at you when you least expect them.
Comments
Post a Comment