The passion you never outgrew

“Listen to TOMMY with a candle burning and you will see your entire future”

One of the most important moments in the entirety of my life is when the first trailer for Suicide Squad dropped in early 2016. I am not joking as I say this - the release for the first trailer for Suicide Squad–yes, THAT Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayer and starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto–was one of the most important moments of my life. Not because the movie left an impact on me. It didn’t. At all. Zero impact did it leave on me. The trailer however did. Why? Because it was the first time ever, EVER, in my twelve years of existence, that I ever heard a little song by the name of Bohemian Rhapsody. And THAT…was the moment where everything changed. That to me is the equivalent of Will in Almost Famous hearing TOMMY by The Who for the first time at age eleven. This was somebody like me who had for all their life been shielded from what is no doubt the greatest era of rock, and arguably music as a whole. This music wasn’t shielded by my parents from me as if they were McCarthyists from the 1950s who believed that comic books and rock music would rot my brain or something like that. For the longest time was this music shielded from me simply because my parents aren’t really into the music from that era, despite the fact they lived to see their release. My mum was always into contemporary 80s artists from when she was growing up, and my dad was a strict, strict, metal-head. The rock music that I cherish today I discovered purely on my own, and one little song, Bohemian Rhapsody, lead me to a specific avenue and era of music that I forever will cherish and be a devout listener of - the album era. Pet Sounds. Led Zeppelin IV. Whos’ Next. Astral Weeks. Blue. Blonde on Blonde. Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Disraeli Gears. Morrison Hotel. The Velvet Underground and Nico. Are You Experienced?

The list is endless and I could go on and on.

Seeing Almost Famous tonight made me realize the profundity behind how simply discovering one thing can completely shape the direction you want to take your life. Did Cameron Crowe think at age 11, upon hearing these songs and albums for the first time, that he would become a writer for Rolling Stone, and write screenplays, and direct films later on? One of the most profound and important discoveries of my life was in discovering and devouring Herge’s Tintin comics at age seven. Those stories to this day are ingrained in my mind because of how much I read all twenty-four stories inside and out. After that, for many, many, years, after school I would come home, take paper, grey-lid and ruler in hand and for hours and hours would I sit on the floor and write stories and draw comic books of my own. Something so small, and something once so insignificant to me, has taken on greater relevance and meaning now as an adult where there’s nothing that professionally interests me more than the desire to write. That need and drive to write and draft stories I never outgrew. That to me is what Almost Famous stands for above all. To never throw away that ONE specific passion from childhood which you NEVER outgrew, and if you can, to harness that passion and that knowledge you have to actually make professional use of it later on in life. This applies to everything and isn’t just applied to writing. It can be cooking, baking, farming, horse-riding, racing, swimming, playing an instrument, etc. etc. you name it. That one eensy-decision to chase the dream of the passion you never outgrew and know inside and out can so easily define the professionalism of your life forever.