Here I am. Back at a coffee joint in LA, thinking about love and music and life and legacy.
At the table next to me sits two 20-somethings...one, a pale-skinned pencil of a man with a massive spherical afro and bright yellow lens-less glasses. I have him pegged as a musician. The other, a pretty young thing, both anxious and defeated. Clearly, an actress.
A classic scene in Hollywood. Artists seeking fame and opportunity from a tough unforgiving mecca of creative output join forces over a $4 cup of coffee to discuss recent attempts to tame the Beast. DJ Lollipop clearly enjoys his LA seniority as he offers an impassioned pep talk to the girl. Using his hands, his voice and his eyebrows, he expounds enthusiastically on the importance of "putting yourself out there everyday," "preparing to accept rejection," and "not giving up." "It's all about packaging," he continues. "If what you're doing isn't working, you GOTTA try something else."
Ah. Industry talk.
The girl goes wide-eyes and acts the willing pupil, pleading a bit over how she had been in LA for six months and was still waiting to do what she "came out here to do."
How many of these conversations of this very nature had I heard when I lived in West Hollywood? Geez...how many of them was I a PART of? Countless dozens. It's the fuel of the city. It's the open air electricity that makes so many things go. To live there as an aspiring artist entitles you to such things. It's the free therapy offered to help you sort though and survive the uncertainty of it all.
Call me crazy, but there's a sprinkle of something magic in what spurs these dialogues. It's a faith that belongs to no holy building. It's belief in something bigger and greater than ordinary. It's the great questions of If? When? Will it be? For so many, it's the tangible result of a lifetime of inclinations and desires...of facing what middle America tells them is just a foolish and sparkly enticement...Living in LA. Living the dream.
This one goes out to these the writers, the music makers, the actors, the film makers...everyone sitting over a cup of coffee tonight in LA, waiting for their phone to ring. May all your greatest dreams come true.
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