Open Thread: What Was Your Big Break?
Share Your Own Story of How You "Made It"
Earlier this week, I shared the story of the biggest break I ever got. As I wrote in the piece, this wasn’t when I was contacted by a publisher, when I launched a blog, or met a famous influencer. It was when someone hired me to do a simple job and saw something in me I was still struggling to recognize myself.
Many readers responded via email and in the comments of the post, sharing their own stories of how they first got introduced to their life’s work. For some, it was the typical “10,000 hours of practice” tale. For others, it was a simple mentoring relationship. And for even others, it was something else.
I thought it would be interesting to “open up the phone lines” and let folks share their own big breaks. Of course, as Walter Matthau once counseled a young actor who was new to Hollywood and was still waiting for his big break, “It’s not the one big break. It’s the fifty big breaks.”
Everyone has a story of finding their life’s work, and the truth is we are still telling that story, still discovering what we are here to do and what the next step in that journey is. But anyone who has lived to adulthood probably has some stories to tell about how they got to wherever they are with the help of others.
The older I get, the more I realize that life is not a meritocracy, that we all benefit from the generations who came before us and from the contributions of others. To be sure, none of us is an island. We all get help in all kinds of interesting and unusual ones.
I find that it’s a useful exercise to reflect on these sources of help. It makes me more grateful, helps me see my story as something that’s part of a greater hole—a node in a great web of being.
Anyway, that’s enough of me. Time to tell your story of a big break. Share it in the comments. It’s okay to be a little shameless and self-promote here. The goal, however, is to tell your story in hopes that it helps others. So please don’t just drop a link. Tell a story, share some observations. Let this exercise lead you to a place of self-reflection and maybe even gratitude.
I look forward to reading what you have to share!
When I was a child (maybe middle school age), growing up in Germany, I wrote elaborate birthday cards to my PopPop in the States. He would write back long letters in his messy, unmistakable print, telling me that I was a good writer. Although I thought he was just being my PopPop and what I'd written were just casual cards and letters, it touched the part in me that already knew I loved words. I trusted him and so I chose to believe him.
After retiring from an illustrious career, he wrote and published his first book in his mid-eighties. He's now 95 and on his third book. I continue to carry his encouragement with me although he no longer knows who I am when I call.
Thanks for opening the floor, Jeff. I'm still waiting on my "big break." I've been writing off and on for years alongside my day job as a Speech-Language Pathologist. I'm at a major turning point in my life as a new mom and I desperately need a change. I've been applying to different jobs and pitching freelance articles and other ideas, but so far have gotten radio silence from the universe. It's frustrating and discouraging - especially considering the time and effort I've put into these endeavors. I'm trying to keep hope alive and trust that eventually something will break my way, but it's hard. And it's lonely. Maybe reading some other stories on this thread will provide some inspiration.