Trial and Error

As you get older you start to realize that a lot of people you come across are very trial and error. You want to believe the best in people, but then come to realize that the majority of them that you meet are just out for themselves, because who else is going to be if you aren’t, right? Well I believe that it is possible to look out for you and for others as well. But there are a lot of people who never got that memo. All you can do is wish them the best.

I moved to Los Angeles in 2005, mid -year, I started out not knowing anyone but a handful of people in my new acting class. I was what most called “in my college years” but not in college. I spent the majority of my first weekends in this new city chatting with my best friends back home, getting off the phone and crying, I was bummed, I was alone in a big new city and my friends back home sounded like they were experiencing the time of their lives. But that life wasn’t for me, I couldn’t wait to get out of Salt Lake. And there I was sitting in a dark room lost in my thoughts trying to figure out my next move, something that was going to make me happy and excited. I spent a lot of time reading and writing, what I did with the majority of those pieces, I guess one day we will hopefully find out and they will just pop back into my life and I will be able to look back at them and laugh about all the silly struggles I was going through at the time, which I am almost positive I made sound a lot more drastic then they actually were… but don’t we all do that at a young age.

A couple months into my move a friend from back home moved out to LA as well and that is when the new chapter in my life began. I somehow got my hands on an ID that stated I was of age (considering I was only 20) but then I made friends with the bar manager and everything was smooth sailing, I was able to walk right up to the front of the line and get in without any hassle. That was when I started to get a taste of what everyone talks/sings about in the industry, how LA will suck you in and spit you right out, if you allow it. I started opening my eyes to the finer things, noticing that the sidewalks here sparkle and its one of the only places that you will be driving down the street and see Spiderman talking to captain jack sparrow. This is the place where dreams come true, which brings me back to trial and error. Once I started regularly making my scene in LA and painting it however I choose, I started making “friends” and lots of them. It got to the point where I knew the majority of the people at the clubs I was frequenting at. I was living “THE” life. As you all can pretty much assume, it caught up to me. I started going out less and less the more conversations I would over hear my “friends” arguing about who was going home with whatever C-list actor that night, it got me to thinking, “why did I come to LA?” Not for this, not for conversations like this, it wasn’t me and never would be. From that point on I didn’t go out as much, and Hollywood started changing, and to be honest it hasn’t been the same sense. My “friends” drastically started falling off the “Kristin’s world” map and that’s when I started to see who my real friends were, people that actually cared about my well being and what I was actually doing in my life. Quality vs. quantity really, trial and error.

I am happy to say that I learned so many life lessons the way I experienced my first couple years in Los Angeles, the city of angels. I got back on track and started focusing on my dreams and aspirations. I have met a handful of what most people dream about meeting. Hung out at houses that people would pay money to hang out at. And I am happy to say that I enjoyed every minute of every experience I have ever had in this magical place. Los Angeles is a world within itself, if there wasn’t an overload of people living in this city and the traffic wasn’t always madness, I am pretty sure they would rename this city paradise. The weather is pretty much perfect year round and I live within minutes of being able to put my toes in the sand and my feet in the ocean. I must say though, I do not take much advantage of that and have made it a goal this year to make a much bigger effort to make it to the beach. My advice to anyone considering moving to LA, you will either Love it or Hate it and no matter what you will not forget it. Don’t forget your purpose in moving to this city, this city has a great way of distracting you. Stay true to yourself, don’t be afraid to experience something new (you will always surprise yourself, and who doesn’t like pleasant surprises), take that leap! The one thing in life you will never get back is TIME, so make that most of it.

Just like the famous stud of the century once stated “Live each day as if it were your last” –James Dean

Live.Love.Laugh

Kristin