It's Never Too Late

I've seen this floating around the internet lately, and thought it was worth sharing here.

It's NEVER too late. . . .

At age 23, Tina Fey was working at a YMCA.
At age 23, Oprah was fired from her first reporting job.
At age 24, Stephen King was working as a janitor and living in a trailer.

At age 27, Vincent Van Gogh failed as a missionary and decided to go to art school.
At age 28, J.K. Rowling was a suicidal single parent living on welfare.
At age 28, Wayne Coyne (from The Flaming Lips) was a fry cook.
At age 30, Harrison Ford was a carpenter.
At age 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker.
At age 37, Ang Lee was a stay-at-home-dad working odd jobs.
Julia Child released her first cookbook at age 39, and got her own cooking show at age 51.
Vera Wang failed to make the Olympic figure skating team, didn’t get the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue, and designed her first dress at age 40.
Stan Lee didn’t release his first big comic book until he was 40.
Alan Rickman gave up his graphic design career to pursue acting at age 42.
Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first movie role until he was 46.
Morgan Freeman landed his first movie role at age 52.
Kathryn Bigelow only reached international success when she made The Hurt Locker at age 57.
Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until age 76.
Louise Bourgeois didn’t become a famous artist until she was 78.

Whatever your dream is, it is not too late to achieve it. You aren’t a failure because you haven’t found fame and fortune by the age of 21. Hell, it’s okay if you don’t even know what your dream is yet. Even if you’re flipping burgers, waiting tables or answering phones today, you never know where you’ll end up tomorrow.

Never tell yourself you’re too old to make it.
Never tell yourself you missed your chance.
Never tell yourself that you aren’t good enough. 

You can do it. Whatever it is. 

(TextSource:missmentelle)

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

We Are Cups

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled.
The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out."

-Ray Bradbury

On Prince

Confession: I'm not really a Prince fan--I know and like some of his work, but he was a bit before my "time." 

Still, as the world laments his death, I'm reminded how important it is that we create.

That we make things--give them life--and send them out into the world.

Because those things--art and music and words--they CAN make a difference.

And maybe we will never reach Prince-level fame or attention, but if we've created one thing that makes someone think, or feel, or see the world differently, then we have succeeded. 

Be Brilliant.

~Katie~

Worth Watching

Books should be both mirrors AND windows.

Check out this Ted Talk from Grace Lin.

(She made my middle grades "best books" list last year. The kid and I loved Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.)

Never Apologize

"You made it; you get to put it out there. Never apologize for it, never explain it away, never be ashamed of it. You did your best with what you knew, and you worked with what you had, in the time you were given. You were invited, and you showed up, and you simply cannot do more than that" (pgs 263-264).

Am reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert