Overnight success, big breaks and the tooth fairy

Today I’m enjoying a very laid-back day with two very mildly sick kids (i.e. sick enough to just want to lay about in bed, watch DVDs and have mummy cart food to them) while stealing spare moments to read from Live From New York: an uncensored history of Saturday Night Live. And…to top it all off, I’ve even gotten two loads of washing done.

Inconceivable!

The SNL book is incredibly inspiring – and scary, if all the tales are to be believed. It’s frightening what ‘success’ can do to people. I’m so very intrigued by the whole ‘before’ and ‘after’ nature of it. Success, I mean. That you can be sitting on your butt one day, and the next be the toast of the town. Not that it works that way exactly, but you know what I mean.

Take for instance that guy who created ‘google idol’, the website where people upload their best hair-brush pop-star antics. I have it on very good authority that said guy was just your average joe who always told his friends that if he could just think up one good internet idea, he’d be set for life. Not even three weeks ago, he’d been struck by his bolt of inspiration: six days later he’s receiving calls from head honchos at google and being asked for interviews on American television. Phew!

I read an interview with Naomi Watts once, saying how when she got incredibly doubtful about whether she should continue in Hollywood searching for that elusive break, her friend Nicole Kidman kept urging her on, saying “All you need is one thing. Just one project that will make the difference.” Enter Mullholland Drive.

Not really sure what my point is here…in fact, I may not even have one. SHOCK! HORROR! But just seeing as this has been one of those ‘what the heck am I doing with my life and when oh when are things going to happen?!’ weeks, I do take comfort in knowing that things can change quicker than you think. I don’t believe in overnight success, but I think (as shown by countless others) if you put in the hard yards, that ‘one thing’ can make all the difference.

If you hang around long enough to find it.