The Work You Don’t See At The Oscars

When we think of success we have a picture that comes to mind. Of someone we know who we believe to be successful. Or maybe we imagine ourselves as successful and look to a future version of us, as a model of success. Either way there’s something we don’t see. There’s something that happens everyday that remains invisible and so often gets left out of the formula we have set for success. That thing is: work.

Kevin Spacey, star of the hit show House of Cards on Netflix, was asked at the Oscars last night “What makes this night so special?” His response:

“Well, look, this is a night we all get to come together and congratulate each other on great performances and an incredible year in film, but this isn’t really what we do for a living. You know? We go to work everyday on sound stages and on location. And we work hard at would we do and we love it. It’s not glamorous. It’s not, you know, we don’t get to dress up like this [at work].”
Kevin Spacey

When you see some succeed don’t discount it by thinking they haven’t worked for it. They have. It’s all behind the scenes. It’s slow growth. It’s showing up everyday and doing WORK. There is no shortcut. There is only the wilderness, the void we have to face everyday and we have to work our way through it. No, you don’t see this work at the Oscars, with all the glitz and glam and red carpet. But if you look hard enough, it’s there.

Without work there is no reason for The Oscars. Without those artists- actors, directors, camera operators, composers, animators, writers– showing up everyday to make what only they can make, there is no film to celebrate. The work is there. It has to exist in order for art to happen. Winning awards is not what we do for a living. We work for a living.

Happy Monday, folks!