ever tried ever failed no matter
try again fail again fail better I had
so many dreams of where I wanted to go
who I wanted to be and what I wanted to
do theater companies I wanted to start
with classmates movies I wanted to be in
directors I wanted to work with stories
I needed to tell it might take a little
time I thought but there would happen
what I didn't have was cash a bank
account
a credit card or an apartment
I just had debt a big hungry growing
larger every moment debt I packed the
life that I knew with socks and a
toothbrush into my backpack and I slept
on couch after couch after couch after
couch at friends apartments in New York
until I wore out their rent paying
roommates welcome I dusted pianos at a
piano store on Ludlow Street for five
months I worked on the property of a
Shakespeare scholar for a year pulling
weeds and removing bees nests I went on
unemployment once but for not for long I
couldn't handle the guilt eventually I
was able to pay rent for a spot on the
floor of an apartment on the Lower East
Side but my roommate had a breakdown and
disappeared and then finally after two
years of job and couchsurfing I got a
job
an application process as a data enter
er at a place called professional
examination services and I stayed for
six years six years from the age of 23
to 29 while they loved me there I was
funny I wore black no cape no tights I
smoked in the loading docks with the
guys from the mailroom and we shared how
hungover we all were
I called them sick almost every Friday
because I was out late the night before
I hated that job and I clung to that job
because of that job I could afford my
own place my dream of running a theater
company with my friend and fellow
Bennington graduate Ian Bell had died
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when I was 29 I told myself the next
acting job I get no matter what it pays
I will from now on for better or worse
be a working actor
I got a low-paying theater job in a play
called imperfect love which led to a
film called 13 moons with the same
writer which led to other roles which
led to other roles and I've worked as an
actor ever since
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I didn't know that would happen at 29
walking away from data processing I was
terrified
ten years in a place without you six
years of a job I felt stuck in maybe I
was afraid of change are you
and so at 29 in a very long last I was
in the company of the actors and writers
and directors I'd sought out that first
year that first day after school I was I
am by their sides
raise the rest of your life to meet you
don't search for defining moments
because they will never come the moments
that define you have already happened
and they will already happen again and
it passes so quickly so please bring
each other along with you you you just
get a bit derailed
but soon something starts to happen
trust me
the rhythm sets in
just try not to wait until like me
you're 29 before you find it
and if you are that's fine too some of
us never find it but you will I promise
you you are already here you'll find
your rhythm or continue the one you have
already found don't wait until they tell
you you are ready
get in there
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Singh
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the world might say you are not allowed
to yet I waited a long time out in the
world before I gave myself permission to
fail my parents didn't have much money
but they struggled to send me to the
best school and one of the most
important things they did for me is that
once I graduated I was on my own
financially it was my journey
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this made me very hungry
literally
I couldn't be lazy
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at the end of the day none of us are
happy with our jobs all the time
but I just sort of had some perseverance
in terms of what I wanted to do and what
I didn't want to do and I think and know
is a very powerful word in our business
that is very hard to use early on in
your career but I also think I was
pretty arrogant when I was younger so I
used that word maybe too much but it
also helped me with the finding girls
that I did like
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we burn very brightly please don't ever
stop
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please
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don't even bother asking
don't bother telling the world you are
ready
show it
do it
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what did Beckett say ever tried ever
failed
no matter try again fail again fail
better
the world
treat everyone kindly and light up the
night
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