So I’ve come to the conclusion: getting to your breakthrough in the entertainment industry is like, you're a little grain of sand and have to make it through the teeny-tiny hole in an hourglass just to get that validation that you’ve "made it." Let’s not think sand, let’s say Diamond Dust. Because who doesn’t love a good diamond? Sparkly!!! I’ll likely use these two interchangeably.

You are this glorious piece of diamond dust, which upon googling is actually precipitation, but I digress. You are in a beautiful and hopeful hourglass with literally thousands if not millions of other hopeful diamond dusts and every single one is trying to get through to the next bulb.

Unfortunately, it’s not like an Oprah’s Favorite Things episode and everyone wins everything all at once (but wouldn’t that be rad!). There are so many factors that come in to play that determine which diamond dust is next and about a million of them have nothing to do with you.

It’s the right angle of which you’re laying in the glass. It’s where you are in line in the glass. You might be there too soon. You might be there too late. Another grain of sand is denser than you are and making its way through faster. You might not be ready for what's next, so you kind of let that other grain go through and see how it goes for them. You might be the grain that sees nothing but the end game in mind and knows that your turn to go through is coming and it’s okay if you aren’t the next piece to drop in…. Everyone is trying to get into the one tiny little space that says they win so they can move on to the next bulb.

Really, you’re waiting for the right opportunity and EVERYTHING from every 360 degrees to line up in unison. (Clears throat.) You are waiting for the right role to be written that you actually could bring to life. The right agent who thinks you’re just so right for that role to be submitted. The right casting director who knows your work. The casting director who has a great rapport with your agent and agrees to see you out of the literally thousands of other submissions. The casting director who calls you in even though you weren't submitted because they see something in you that is right for their project. That you’re available and not going to a wedding! That you have the right essence of what the character needs. That you’re the right talent, the right type, that you have the “right credits”, the "right agent” , the “right headshot” that is “exactly that character." That you have the right social media following. That you have the right amount of being off the grid. That you're the "right height", the "right ethnicity", have the "right vocal tone" of the character, the "right weight", the "right je ne sais quoi" the director, writers, producers and network executives all agree on…. there are so many things that are beyond you. SO MANY THINGS that come into consideration that have nothing to do with you. At all! Every single aspect has to line up for you to be the next piece of diamond dust to make it through to the next level. And you will. YOU WILL.

Remember. You are on your own path. They are on their own path. That beautiful hourglass only allows one piece to pass through at any given moment, and how special is that when it happens?! That one special moment it happens?! It makes all of that patiently waiting so much worth it! We’re all just in the same bulb trying to get to the next. Don’t worry. You’re going to get through. Once you make it into that bulb on the bottom... you'll get flipped around and you have to do it all over again. That's when the fun starts. <3

Xox,

Alyssa, No One's Daughter