My first day in LA
I made it! I am right now at the dawn of something, not sure what yet, and it is a bit frightening. I would not say that I am scared, but close to it. I am on my balcony right now, it is 5 am, I am right in the Valley, though I have no idea which valley this is or where I am exactly. The stars offer quite a sight, even if I know that only a few can be seen in a city as large as Los Angeles. My first day at work in a few hours, I am ready to explode!
If I was afraid of rejection, my first day has been quite successful. Already in the lobby of the hotel-apartment complex where I live, a woman came to me and told me her life story in no less than two hours. Offering me dreams and opportunities like moving to France with her and start a business, anything, and then offering me to build a glass house on her land in the north of California so I could write all day without having to worry about a job.
Now, how likely is it that any of that would actually happen? Close to zero. Some people would offer you anything just to have friendship, and I know that these friendships are too demanding for any human being. Somehow she got from me my room number and the address where I will work. I’m sure I have not heard the last of her, and Stephen is freaking out about it.
And then I went to Ralph’s to buy some food. Everyone was over nice, talking to me like if a huge earthquake just happened and they were suddenly so desperate to talk to someone about it, that even strangers would do. Well, it is what would be required for anyone in England to even talk to you, they don’t even say sorry when they cut you in the grocery store, like they do here.
I don’t know what is wrong with these Americans, they are so opened, so willing to meet new people, it is madness. I feel a strong sense of community, I suddenly feel part of something larger than just my small person. I am no longer this individual lost amongst millions, but a component of some greater family called the human race.
Somehow I feel this is only temporary, that it is a false sort of feeling that usually happens when you first move somewhere. Every time I moved into a new country, I always met helpful people ready to do anything for me, without anything in return, and in time this subsides and it is life as normal. As if destiny knew I needed help, and all these possibilities were suddenly falling on my doorstep.
I have to be careful though, not to fall into any trap or friendship I don’t want. Not to believe anything anyone says, because it is likely that they won’t deliver even on their friendship. It could easily become a nightmare. At the same time, I need to have some wisdom, and be able to understand when people are genuine and have a lot to offer. Obviously I feel I have a lot to offer, however I know certain friendships are doomed from the start. I need to give myself some time to let anything else happen, and take it from there.
I am now more worried about my first day at work. Can I deliver on all the promises I have made? Am I this genius guy who will sort them out through my past experience? I have met yesterday at the Airport one of the girls I will be working with, along with her wonderful and peaceful new husband of two weeks. God she is nice, strong personality, these are people I would love to have as friends. Her husband works in the music industry, in the licensing I believe, and probably about the use of music in films. I see no opportunity there except for good friendship, and this is good.
Perhaps all my dreams and expectations about succeeding in the movie industry have also subsided since my arrival. I am not sure if it is because I feel that being here or in London makes no difference to my success. And I just have to continue slowly to work on my projects in my little corner, and hope for other extraordinary events in my life to happen, which most likely would come from my inbox by emails than meeting the right people.
Or perhaps it is that I have other worries right now, like this new job and finding a new apartment. Both are huge tasks to accomplish, and I am hopeful that I will succeed in being happy. I am not certain if my budget will allow me something nice close to where I will be working. And I know I will need a car, because just walking to the grocery store took me 30 minutes, and I had to come back in a taxi. However the taxi driver was a Canadian woman from Toronto and she was, as expected, very talkative and helpful.
I just don’t know what to expect next. I have to get ready to go to work.
If I was afraid of rejection, my first day has been quite successful. Already in the lobby of the hotel-apartment complex where I live, a woman came to me and told me her life story in no less than two hours. Offering me dreams and opportunities like moving to France with her and start a business, anything, and then offering me to build a glass house on her land in the north of California so I could write all day without having to worry about a job.
Now, how likely is it that any of that would actually happen? Close to zero. Some people would offer you anything just to have friendship, and I know that these friendships are too demanding for any human being. Somehow she got from me my room number and the address where I will work. I’m sure I have not heard the last of her, and Stephen is freaking out about it.
And then I went to Ralph’s to buy some food. Everyone was over nice, talking to me like if a huge earthquake just happened and they were suddenly so desperate to talk to someone about it, that even strangers would do. Well, it is what would be required for anyone in England to even talk to you, they don’t even say sorry when they cut you in the grocery store, like they do here.
I don’t know what is wrong with these Americans, they are so opened, so willing to meet new people, it is madness. I feel a strong sense of community, I suddenly feel part of something larger than just my small person. I am no longer this individual lost amongst millions, but a component of some greater family called the human race.
Somehow I feel this is only temporary, that it is a false sort of feeling that usually happens when you first move somewhere. Every time I moved into a new country, I always met helpful people ready to do anything for me, without anything in return, and in time this subsides and it is life as normal. As if destiny knew I needed help, and all these possibilities were suddenly falling on my doorstep.
I have to be careful though, not to fall into any trap or friendship I don’t want. Not to believe anything anyone says, because it is likely that they won’t deliver even on their friendship. It could easily become a nightmare. At the same time, I need to have some wisdom, and be able to understand when people are genuine and have a lot to offer. Obviously I feel I have a lot to offer, however I know certain friendships are doomed from the start. I need to give myself some time to let anything else happen, and take it from there.
I am now more worried about my first day at work. Can I deliver on all the promises I have made? Am I this genius guy who will sort them out through my past experience? I have met yesterday at the Airport one of the girls I will be working with, along with her wonderful and peaceful new husband of two weeks. God she is nice, strong personality, these are people I would love to have as friends. Her husband works in the music industry, in the licensing I believe, and probably about the use of music in films. I see no opportunity there except for good friendship, and this is good.
Perhaps all my dreams and expectations about succeeding in the movie industry have also subsided since my arrival. I am not sure if it is because I feel that being here or in London makes no difference to my success. And I just have to continue slowly to work on my projects in my little corner, and hope for other extraordinary events in my life to happen, which most likely would come from my inbox by emails than meeting the right people.
Or perhaps it is that I have other worries right now, like this new job and finding a new apartment. Both are huge tasks to accomplish, and I am hopeful that I will succeed in being happy. I am not certain if my budget will allow me something nice close to where I will be working. And I know I will need a car, because just walking to the grocery store took me 30 minutes, and I had to come back in a taxi. However the taxi driver was a Canadian woman from Toronto and she was, as expected, very talkative and helpful.
I just don’t know what to expect next. I have to get ready to go to work.
posted by Mycroft Holmes @ 5:00 AM
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