In news that I’m sure will disappoint at least one Mumbler out there, my Susan Boyle Video has given me my first big(ish) break.
This evening I met with the producer of a very well-known podcast, a podcast which sees thousands of downloads every week. It’s a podcast I listen to and enjoy, and a podcast that I did always want to be on. It was also one of the inspirations for my own podcast.
As of next month, I’ll be presenting a new regular feature on the show.
Details will follow in due course.
This is really exciting news for me. As many of you know, I see my mid-term future as being in the media industry, whether that be podcasting, radio or TV. This is not for the sake of becoming ‘famous’ etc, but because I believe that I can make a big positive difference to the world through the media. I’ve always felt drawn towards this field, but until recently have not made any real steps to create a reality in which I am working within it.
It’s only having read stacks of self-development books and having listened to hours of biographies from Audible that I appreciate that there is no secret to fulfilling my dreams. It’s simply a case of taking positive steps, acting on acquired knowledge and accumulated passion to make them a reality.
Becoming successful in my chosen field is no different from becoming successful in, say, obtaining the right to remain in Japan – in that case I invested 5 years of my time in study, $40,000 in school fees and expenses, and a lot of time and effort to persuade *Twinkle* to marry me ;o)
I don’t believe in blind ‘luck’ – I believe that we draw things towards us that we need at a given time – but we have to be in the right frame of mind and give out the right energy to draw the right things towards us (and if the ‘wrong’ things appear in our lives, they are ultimately the ‘right’ things. e.g. having unreasonable demands made of you in a job might piss you off so much that it becomes a trigger for you to pick up some long-held dream of yours that until now you’ve neglected out of fear).
So it’s good to see that my plan is working. Whilst my podcasts may take up every waking moment I’m not in my day job, whilst they may not pay a single penny, and whilst the resulting mp3 may be judged by some as a pile of pants, it doesn’t matter. They are what I have to do now. They are the natural next step.
The alternative is for me to sit here and wait for the day I’m ‘discovered’ by Fuji TV.
It’s only too easy to sit on our dreams. I’m happy that there are not so many of those kinds of people around me; most I know are either happy in what they are doing, or they are taking steps to change those parts of their lives that they are not happy with. They do this year round too, not just at New Year.
Anyways, best get on with the editing. Watch this space for future announcements.
Just curious…you often talk about how long and hard it was for you to “secure the right to stay in Japan”…but isn’t it only a matter of marrying a Japanese citizen? In the U.S. as soon as someone marries an American, they can stay here, by way of Green Card, which for all intents and purposes is the same as citizenship… thus the many Japanese young ladies that try to snag American men. It’s sort of a ticket to America. I do know that Japan can be difficult in regards to immigration, so maybe the situation is different?
“only a matter of marrying a Japanese citizen” – you make that sound like it’s easy!
I don’t know about marrying people from other countries, but marrying Japanese people requires a lot of emotional energy, love, time, money, and commitment! 🙂
Hurrah!
Hey, well done you! When there’s something you want to do you really have to go for it. And much of what you do will be try and trying again. I’ve met plenty of folk who aren’t doing what they really want to do, and that’s fair enough ‘cos it can be a hard slog and there may be more pressing things to get on with. As it is I’m sure I could’ve done the decent grammar school girl thing and trained as a lawyer, but here I am teaching English in order to finance my art career, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I don’t imagine marrying any kind of ‘foreigner’ necessarily makes it too easy to enter the country of the betrothed though, the USA included. 🙂 My sister is a white Brit married to an American and she still had to jump through plenty of hoops, and I mention her race simply ‘cos it probably still makes the authorities less jittery, not because she’s more deserving. Moreover, marrying a Japanese person must be a huge commitment compared to marrying another English-speaking westerner say, and the language is just the kick-off. 🙂
Thanks Emsk!
We know that statistically we, as an intercultural couple, have the statistics against us, but knowing that means we try much harder.
I thought there might be a waiting period or something, or some sort of examination you need to pass (the UK offers a ‘Life in the UK’ test that applicants for settlement must pass). I was addressing the practical side of it; naturally I appreciate the emotional toll, although I think any marriage, to someone of any race or ethnic background, requires a lot of emotional energy, love, commitment, time (although I don’t know about money, LOL!)
JC, thanks for your reply. Thankfully Japan has no such requirements, so yes, you’re right, practically speaking it’s comparatively easy (and I was only pulling your leg in my previous comment, I knew what you meant. That wicked British sense of humour creeping in again…!)
No worries… I realized later that my comment sounded a bit snarky (about foreign women snagging American husbands), but that wasn’t intended. Just my New Yorker personality 😉