Today, someone I'd just met asked me where I'd worked before. I, of
course, launched into my whole history of soaps and sitcoms, of
directing, ADing, and editing. Did he really want to know any of this?
I'm not sure. But it is my history, and he did ask.
Some days, I feel as though all of that history is drifting far into the
past--as if a long time ago really is a LONG time ago, and as if all
those places I talk about coming from are places long gone. I am a
person committed to moving forward, not dwelling in the past, but it
made me a little sad to see the past becoming just a story to tell,
almost as if I were talking about some other person.
I sometimes think that's because I'm not currently working on the
production side, or because I'm not currently working in drama or
comedy. The reality, though, is that, no matter where I am working, what
I have done before will always be the past. It will always be a story
of "what was" talked about from the perspective of "what is." Just as we
have to deal with our kids at the ages they are now, not the infants or
toddlers they were, we can't help but handle our professional lives by
dealing with what we are doing now, even as we celebrate what we have
done, and how it prepared us for now. It wouldn't work if we were
constantly thinking about our kids as babies while we were helping them
with math homework or term papers. Likewise, it is not that helpful to
let our past professional accomplishments get in the way of the path we
are taking now. In either case, where we have been and what we have
experienced can (and should) INFORM today--as long as it stays in its
place and doesn't ECLIPSE today.
It was a lot of fun talking about where I have been over
twenty-something years. It reminded me to be proud of what I've
accomplished, especially when some days, it is easy to get caught up in the
daily challenges and forget. Yet, as much as I love and embrace
those stories, I realize that they are just chapters. Many, many chapters.
And I am grateful that they are part of my history--and chapters in a
story that continues.
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