is whoYOU Are
I read an interview with Ralph Macchio, the actor who played Daniel LaRusso in the 1980s Karate Kid trilogy. He talked about a decades-long dry spell in his acting career after that, which was only recently resurrected with Cobra Kai, a TV series based on his Karate Kid character in middle age. He explains that he didn’t succumb to the desperation he might have as an actor because of his guiding motto: one foot in showbiz and one foot out.
It reminded me of writing—but maybe in reverse. Most of us feel like we have only one toe dipped into the writing pool and all the rest of us is out. But we still often feel the desperation of wanting what the “others” have (other authors, other people we consider successful). It’s not wrong to want what we perceive as success, but it’s still all about balance. Ralph Macchio is considered a nice guy, by all accounts, and people speculate he didn’t get further earlier because he didn’t take more risks. “That probably does create more opportunity, I get that,” he said in The Guardian interview. “But it wasn’t me.”
That is the best role model I can think of for any creative person. Have one foot in, one foot out of your creative endeavor and be true to yourself. That way you’re well positioned to take in stride all the tumult the outside world throws at you—good and bad.
That’s the way you define your own success.