At the recent Faffcon gathering (thank you again, Amy), several of us ‘fessed up to getting deep in depression the more we read online about the “great sessions” and “slammed schedules” and “most recent national payday” of our friends and colleagues in the biz.
We all recognized that a lot of those posts from genuine friends were written with only joy in mind….well, there are a few who are obviously rubbing it in, but we won’t go there.
Anyway, those of us who admitted to those moments might find encouragement in a recent post by the always-insightful Seth Godin.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/09/run-your-own-race.html
Read the whole post. But the upshot is: why burden yourself by running someone else’s race?
Why indeed.
— over and out —
Vanessa Hart says
September 27, 2011 at 1:01 amThis is so true, thank you for sharing.
Paul Strikwerda says
September 29, 2011 at 3:09 pmWe live in a nation and in a culture that has a hard time tolerating those who are having a hard time. We’re supposed to be American dreamers, optimists and fixers. Put up a smile and pretend nothing’s going on, right?
Look at talk shows, commercials and business presentations. Everything is always supposed to be great. Even commercials for anti-depressants show happy people. It’s depressing!
Remember one thing: it is a fake facade. It is one big lie.
The fact that one colleague lands a job doesn’t say anything about you. Someone else’s success has nothing to do with your success.
Perhaps they’re telling the world about their winning audition because this is the one piece of good news they’ve had in a long time.
The word just sees the end result. We all know how long it takes to finally reach a tipping point and get a winning streak of great gigs.
Rejoice when one of us lands the job of a lifetime. Observe how they have shaped their careers. Find out with whom they have trained. Learn from them and one day, people will look at you and ask themselves:
How did he get so darn lucky?
admin says
September 29, 2011 at 3:40 pm…wow, Paul. You gifted me with a custom blog post in that comment.
And that line,”they’re telling the world about their winning audition because this is the one piece of good news they’ve had in a long time.” rings true. I know it’s my own motivation for such announcements, and i try to hold that thought when i’m perusing the success stories of good friends.
rg
Bob Taylor says
September 30, 2011 at 1:07 pmIt was my first FaffCon. Truth be told, it was my first conference of ANY KIND, in 46 years of VO.
I’m naturally quite reserved, and being in a room full of full-of-themselves boasters is the last place I want to be.
Nevertheless, after hearing from a fellow VO’er that FaffConn was not that at all, I decided to pony up the funds and make the trek.
The rumors were true. It was not the brag-fest I might have expected. Don’t get me wrong, I heard (like all of you did) some very proud and exciting reports of gig successes. But that’s different from puffed-up, snooty and self centered ego mania.
I like to hear success stories from people; especially when is coming from someone who you might not have expected to announce it. (That’s a different blog altogether)