I just finished reading Patti Labelle’s Don’t Block the Blessings.
I’m sure not too many hip-hop heads will pick this one up, but the message I took from it is universal, and can be found in the autobiographies of famous people in all sorts of social arenas. There is, more often than not, a period of struggle before success.
It’s not news, but it’s the stuff that sells records. What made an impression on me is the panoramic view of life. As Miss Patti reflected back on her life right after turning 50, she detailed the lean early years. It stood out that she crisscrossed the nation in an old station wagon, doing the Chitlin Circuit for four years.
Four years? To be broke, hustling gas money and singing in hole-in-the-walls? Doing what you love but having nothing to show for it? I wonder if I could progress towards my dream, do what God planted me here to do, with little encouragement other than applause for four years?
And then, after the breakup of Labelle, Patti had to reinvent herself. She had to open for people as a solo act, when she was used to being the headliner in a group. She had to humble herself and keep looking for a hit, when the critics and fans weren’t forthcoming. And the crazy thing is that we all know Patti can SANG. So how can it be, with a gift as undeniable as hers, that success didn’t come the first time she hit a high note? If she had to work like that, for that long, with that gift — what can we expect?
I’m not saying that everyone needs a hard luck story to make it big. Or that it’s going to take us all years of poverty before we reach the top. Each of us has a different trajectory in our quest for success. But it’s heartening to know that when you look at the big picture of a life — not the three months you were without a job, or the two years you worked days so you could go to school at night — when you take the panoramic view, life looks a lot different.
My mother told (and tells) me, “No one stays unemployed forever.” I’m considering taking an internship so I can get a foot into my chosen career — no one stays an intern forever. Can you humble yourself to be a beginner in the field you’re trying to get into? To take a job that pays less than what you’re used to so you can pursue your calling? Can you reinvent yourself to allow for a lifestyle outside the norm that your friends and family expect you to have?
You may have to, if you want to get your star on the Walk of Fame. As I look at my current period of struggle, I remind myself that these are the days that don’t make it into the book. This is the period I’ll look back on when I “remember when.” Days like these are what I’ll talk about when I speak to kids who want to know how I made it. And make it, we will.
