I want to be someone noticable.

[The_Vacancy]

As silly as it sounds, I want to be famous. An actor. A singer. A band member. A writer. Someone.

 

It struck me when I was watching War of the Worlds, Justin Chatwin who plays Robbie in the movie was only about 20 when he was in it, he was dared by a friend to audition for it and just like that he was working with Steven Spieldberg, Tom Cruise and Dakota Fannings. And when I thought about it, I really wanted to be someone.

 

Like someone known. An actor, singer, band member, a writer. Where I am recognised. My parents are both alcoholics, we're going through money problems, they spend their last moeny on cigerettes and alcohol. I can imagine myself in a similar position, as someone told me, because my parents are alcoholics, I might have the taste for it. I can imagine being in a crumby wrecked family, with a crumby desk job, no money, alcohol, cigerrettes. It scares me, I'd like to do something with my life. Make my name known, you know?

 

The thing is, I live in Perth Australia. Perth is the most isolated capital state city in the world. And I do mean the world when I say that. I can't be in a band, all we get here is mainstream rap. If I wanted to be an actor or a writer, I would need proper assistance - An agent, an adult to help me. I want to be recognised and be someone better but with not much self confidence and living in a small isolated city, I realise it is impossible. Here, thinking like that is so stupid that it's laughable. I think I'd need to move to America but likely my mum and dad would let me persue my dreams?

 

But can anyone suggest where I would begin with acting or music/singing? I've heard you need to get an agent and in Hollywood they "eat you up and spit you out" and it's a terrible place. But I am in a real weird position. I feel if I do not try and be someone or be something I'll go through a downwards spiral and end up like my parents. Wasting my life away drinking.

 

Sorry if it is ramble. My point is, where would I begin with a broad idea as to where I could begin acting or music or singing.

 

I would also like to know now, I realise I can't change my mind when I am fifty and just wish I had done something to make a name for myself.

[kadvati79]

Do you know sometimes I fantasise about being nobody. I think about friends of mine, back home in the small town I grew up in, who stayed there. I think about pumping gas in that small town, marrying some chick and having some kids, getting a mortgage, working hard, wearing jeans, taking the kids to the swings, struggling - but happy.

 

I'm not exactly Tom Cruise material, far from it! But the more successful I have become, the more lonely, meaningless, and undeserving I have felt. Its hard to explain, but you very quickly loose touch with your old friends. With money, you have nothing in common. All my old friends are like typical mid twenty year olds - they have no money and just having fun clowning around.

 

I end up now with alot of free time, I could work more and get more money, but what would I do with it? So I just end up sitting there sometimes during the day, all my friends are at work, and I have nothing to do. So I will go fly somewhere and p*ss about there for a bit. I'll go visit my family and see how they just don't get it, and hear them say "we're all very proud of you" and I just want to say "Proud of what? That I'm lucky? That I can have stuff when I want? That I have sex and do crazy things simply to cut out the pain of living in reality? Gee... successful sure". I know I'm not alone in this. Being successful calls into question things like "why me", particulary for those who have had a history of abuse or something crazy in their lives they aren't proud of. You begin to question faith in everything.

 

In my work, it got to the point where the less I cared about the quality the better I got. I no longer prepare for presentations, I just turn up. I became slack with everything. I threw tantrims. It seemed no matter what I did it only added to the enigma. In the end it just made me incredibly cynical. Sure, I am passionate about the stuff, and I guess that gets me through it. I get recognition - but I learned (pretty hard) that searching for that approval in others only leads to some serious soul searching.

 

The more money i have, the more successful I have gotten - the more distance I have felt between my friends and me. Its not a conscious thing. After a while I would simply just end up paying for everything because otherwise I would just end up going to the movies alone etc...

 

I happen to be very good at a particular niche called "systems architecure" and "IT strategy", and in the right place at the right time. But I don't think I came equipped with the tools and the skills with which to build a life out of being successful. I haven't lived with my parents since I was 17, and while I consider myself pretty smart, I have no idea what I am doing in terms of living life. In a taxi coming home the other night, my elderly taxi driver was telling me her son lives with her, and has been on the unemployment benefit his whole life. He gets about NZ$150 a week. I get more than that an hour for standard work. I got out of the taxi and felt like being sick. Whats wrong with this world? Yeah, yeah, I know... thats just the way it is and I am reading too much into it.

 

I go on holiday alot myself, do lots of crazy things, people find me very interesting. But it has gotten to the point I struggle to relate to anyone. Its not snobby. I don't even know what it is. I don't really understand it but I think it has something to do with feeling like I am in the "wrong peer group". I don't fit in. Sure, i don't fit in for great reasons... but I don't fit in none the less. Does that make sense? Jeez... I am rambling now...

 

I guess I am saying "beware what you wish for"

[Alabama]

Just because your somebody or famous, doens't mean that will solve all your problems. It's important to realize that with fame, comes money, but with that money you have the press and everyone knows you. That can be very frusterating, especially at a young age. If you don't want to end up like your parents, then study for a good education. That would help you so much more than worrying about being famous; that won't neccesarily save you, since it could make things worse.

[The_Vacancy]

Thanks so far.

 

I do not necesserily want to be a celebrity. I want to be everything my parents aren't. I want to do something with my life, I want to be recognised. I want to move to America and live a happy life, doing active things and just making a name for myself. I have always wanted to be famous, not for the money or the 'power' but so that when I die I can at least know that I did everything I had wanted to, I'm respected and known. I don't want to be on my death bed and go "Oh gee, to think, I could have done something with my life. I could have been an actor. I could have taken up music. It's too bad I passed up oppertunities to be someone."

 

It's all I have been thinking about for a couple of days now. Just thinking, this is the time where I need to start making decisions about my future. I would really like to push for moving to America and living, taking on talents. I know it sound stupid to say but I don't want to die and just be known from my work colleauges. I'd dread that.

 

Sorry I keep complaining, don't mean to.

I've just been thinking about this for a while and I keep thinking I'm going to end up like my parents.

[Alabama]

If you want to continue with this dream of moving to the U.S. and becoming famous, than you will have to work hard. What are your talents? Whatever your gifted at, aim at becoming famous in that area; but just beware of all the bad things that come with fame.

[Wondercookie]

Your pinpoint of focus seems to be on your parents...you don't want to turn out like them.

 

Perhaps you're spending too much time with your parents? Do you still live with them?

 

If you want to be somebody and make a difference, then you have to start on yourself. You're 26...are you in college?

 

If you still live with your parents, get moving! Spread your wings and fly, move away, get a job (any job you can find), enroll into school to learn how to do the things you want to do.

 

I know it sucks, but a lot of people who are instantly famous were usually born with great talent. I don't know how they do that any more than they know how I can sneeze with my eyes open. They had such talent that sooner or later, they were discovered. Chances are, by 26, if you haven't been discovered you may not have been born with that kind of talent.

 

Read some biographies of the famous people that you look up to. Some of them really had to go through hell to get to where they are now, it takes discipline and hard work. They didn't just wake up one morning to find that they were famous. They starved, they played instruments until their fingers bled, they danced until they collapsed from exhaustion. It takes work.

 

In college, you can learn to sing, dance, play an instrument. Your chances are better in school, where other people may notice you.

[The_Vacancy]

Actually, I am only 14.

 

26 is my post count you were reading.

 

And I have decided to take up the guitar again.

 

Perth only get's mainstream rap but when I am old enough to get to America, I want to leave that option open.

 

Thanks everyone.

[Haven]

For music, if you take up the guitar again and write/record some songs, you could try promoting your music online (like link removed.. there are alot out there). For acting, you might want to try acting in some local plays first, or something.

 

Chances are, by 26, if you haven't been discovered you may not have been born with that kind of talent.

Not true for writing.. It's rare that a best-selling author is a teenager or a young adult. Most famous writers were "discovered" in their later years, after they had graduated from college and gotten a job or started a career. For example, John Grisham's first book was published when he was ~33.

[easyguy]

I'm a musician prospecting professionalism. The biggest mistake a musician can make is making music as means of trying to become famous or rich. A lot of bands flunk early on because of that mindset. A career in music is a risky one, regardless of how talented you are. A lot of fame in music comes down to who you meet, the networking that you build, and the exposure you receive because of it.

 

Major record labels give their musicians limited free will at the expense of selling lots and lots of recordings. It's a Catch-22 unless you start your own label, which is pretty wise nowadays, considering the hashing out of easily marketable bands by major record labels. It's more difficult to keep, but worthwhile if you're serious about getting some quality music out there.

 

Most musicians who become famous peak in their late 20s/early 30s, so I wouldn't plan on becoming famous too soon. If it comes, it will come with time. If it doesn't, then at least you knew that there was a chance of it happening, and theorically you should still enjoy doing what you have a passion for regardless of the fact that you're not famous.

 

What about trying to be recognized on a local level? That seems within your reach.

 

If you haven't already, get an artist/music page on mySpace and promote your music that way. It's free, and is great for your age group (teens).

 

Good luck!

[The_Vacancy]

Thanks for your advice.

 

As I just said, I don't want to become rich, money at the moment is something I don't care for. It's not necesserily to become famous, it's to become recognised.

 

The whole idea of becoming recognisable, moving to America to persue a dream has been interfering in my own life, even. It's all I have been thinking of for about four days now. I've not bothered with assignments, some due tomorrow just because I feel so much about this now. In my stomach I feel like nothing, I have no emotions about it but I really want to become someone, an icon, that people can look up to - Someone.

 

I am still not sure what I'd like to do. I've been thinking about persuing a music career, in a band or something. I have these things on my mind, but I am still not sure what I'd like to do with myself.

 

At the moment, I am just a young 14 year old but completely lost and worried about my future. I feel I need to make some big decisions to be someone but I am just too concerned.

[need2bme]

Thank you guys for this thread...I was just thinking about the way that "icemotoboy" put it. I rose through the ranks and became somewhat successful. OK, not on par with "icemotoboy", as far as the money goes, but was able to get a leg up. I had to buy and provide and have and worry about the pressures that go with doing the stuff needed to keep up with this type of job (studying specs or manuals at home, continued schooling, etc). I just kinda shut down and stopped caring about a lot of it.

 

I had at this time bought what I thought I needed like a big screen, the car, you know; the stuff. My dad used to say, "its just stuff".

 

Also, I worked for a really good company for a while and we were all like family. When everyone was laid off, it hit me hard for a long while. That added to the fact that I was thinking, "man, I am tired of getting laid off in the tech field", made me really cynical and angry for a while. I was also angry at myself for just riding along and not taking extra classes like I should have or continuing my education. After the company laid me off, I started contracting for pretty good money, but even that dried up. I should let you know that I had a chance to take a really good senior position, where they were willing to train me to do what I did not know already. I was going to report directly to the VP of engineering. That scared me and I took a lesser job that paid a little more money, but not benefit me in the end (that is a character flaw I have to address and a story for another post maybe).

 

Now, of course, all this time my ex-GF was telling me that I should be happy with what I had, I was getting too stressed, etc. In the end, she was right. I now have a really hard time coping with stress and measure myself against others. I have been told I don't like myself, but I just added to it with the whole money thing.

 

This brings me full circle to what my friends and I were talking about and what "icemotoboy" so eloquently wrote about. I was talking about how my GF (when we started dating) made so much less than I did. Yet she always had money. I was always paying bills. She even had money stashed away in CDs and bank accounts and such.

 

I also was speaking to them about how when I started in the computer business, I started in a warehouse. I was not making a ton of money and was in the best shape of my life (of course I was much younger). I enjoyed what I was doing and then started working in a different department at night. I went to school in the daytime. I hung out with friends. I went bowling and what not. I went out every other night. I basically was happy. WAY HAPPY.

 

I was also happy with the GF. We went out and tried new things and I was only worried about her. Then, I started worrying about the money and how we needed more and such. She was always happy (at least for the most part).

 

It IS more important to be happy. Less stress that way...

 

Sorry about the rant...