Monday, August 19, 2013

Why your Happiness can't come from your Career

I've said it a few times before on this blog, but it deserves to be repeated: your happiness cannot be solely based on success in your career.  The first reason for this is fairly obvious: in any artistic profession hard work and desire don't always equal success in your career.

But there is more to it than that.  How is success defined?  Is it becoming a series regular on a show, being interviewed on the Late Night talk shows, or winning an Oscar?  If you do get this, then what?  Shows get cancelled; the interview is only 5 minutes; and someone else wins the Oscar next year.

The thing is that there is always another rung in the ladder and as long as you base your happiness on success there really is no end point that will give you that happiness. 

I am reminded of this sad fact by some of the recent deaths in young Hollywood, people whose careers by all outward appearances were going great.

So, where does your happiness come from?

I can tell you some places my happiness comes from: creating art, finishing a project, and Disneyland ... oh, and when the house is clean. 

The important thing is to have a full life, a life outside of Hollywood. 

1 comment:

  1. Hey Michelle, I found your blog because I just watched an interview with Lizzy Caplan, who mentioned the "Take Fountain" quote at the end of the interview, and I wasn't familiar with the quote. You should check out the interview because she touched on a lot of the same things you talk about on your blog, like cultivating a life outside of acting, and a really interesting bit on the importance of brokering your own self-confidence. That part is about 26:46 but the whole thing is really good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF1BWbdAQhE

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