Last night, a friend and I traveled to Santa Fe to see Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer at George R.R. Martin's Jean Cocteau theater. I honestly didn't expect such an intimate setting -- the theater only seats about 120 people. If either of them had sneezed, I'd have to wipe it off with a tissue. They sang together, read some short stories and poems, chatted with the audience, and answered our state question: red or green?
They both prefer Christmas.
Anyway, I wanted to bring this up because they of course signed CDs, books, comics, etc. after the show. In my copy of American Gods, Neil wrote, "Believe." It couldn't be more appropriate, seeing as how that book acted as the trigger for a lot of spiritual introspection. It continues to do that every time I revisit it. But more than that, as a last-semester senior, it can feel intimidating to look at the future and say, "I can do that." So reminding me to believe couldn't be more appropriate.
I could also just be reading way too much into it. Whatever, it was awesome.
Imagine your first major project (film, book, whatever) has been completed, and a fan asks you to sign something for them. What would you write? What's your "believe"?
Still working on it, but maybe something like this:
ReplyDelete(name), never quit doing what you love, and never forget why you love doing it.
Melissa Rinkenberger
Interesting post!! I can't say I can see myself doing that in my particular future, but if I were signing something for a fan, it would probably read, "(name), find your passion, master it, and run with it, the world needs you!" This is something I happened to hear my old piano teacher tell to a younger child - it just stuck with me for all this time. I makes sense! I've tried to apply it to my life in general, and I think it's a great, positive message to write for the fans - they too are aspiring to make something of their lives, as all of us are!
ReplyDeleteI think it is always cool to get to hear someone “famous” speak or tell you something directly. It is really cool that he signed more than just his name or simply a “thank you”. However, I don’t think I will ever be famous! We can still impact the life of others though. For example, I am a pre-school teacher at a learning center and things we (teachers) do or say, the little kids will copy us later, so I guess even if you don’t become famous, there will always be at least one person that looks up to you.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would write to that person would probably be something along the lines of “don’t let anyone ever tell you that you have potential”. I think I would have to explain this quote though otherwise it might be misread. I was told this by my eight grade advisor and what she told me is that if you are told that you have potential to do something, it is because that person can see that you are not doing your best. So, you must always do your best so that no one can call you out and tell you that you could be doing better because they see potential in you.
I do have a favorite French phrase though, “aimer la vie que vous vivez, vivre la vie que vous aimes”, which means “love the life you live, live the life you love”, which is similar to what you posted Melissa.
Good question! I never thought about it before if I became famous. I did practice writing my signature a thousand times, but I never gave much thought into what I would say. When I was young I thought I would write a saying that would be meaningful to that person. Then reality hit and I don’t know these people from atom and if I have to sign a bunch of stuff I can’t be writing complete sentences.
ReplyDeleteI came up with this and I like it so far (might improve it in the future): (Name), Don’t ever give up! Just catch your breath and go!