When you are on a winning streak, there will inevitably come a moment when you are not. Once you’re out of that white-hot space, how do you adapt to life on the other side?
“Imagine how life changes for a young filmmaker with a successful film. […] It seemed to me then I was on a merry-go-round that would accelerate forever.”
This is film director William Friedkin, from his autobiography The Friedkin Connection, describing the incredible transformation to his fortunes that came with his first major success, 1971’s The French Connection. For Friedkin, the merry-go-round would somehow accelerate still further with his next film, 1973’s The Exorcist. But – and I hope this will not count as a spoiler for anyone considering reading this excellent book – the metaphorical merry-go-round did not keep accelerating forever. His life changed again.
Nothing lasts forever. Nothing can accelerate forever. Winning streaks rarely endure.
Very few of us will experience that kind of intense period of success at such a level. But it is quite possible that some of us will experience some kind of ‘golden age’ in our lives (even if we don’t come to view it as such until after it has passed).
For some, this golden age might be all about fame, fortune and everything that goes with it. For others, a golden age might be entwined with youth and its inevitable passing (that is, if you have the good fortune to live long enough for your youth to pass).
When you are on a hot streak, there will inevitably come a moment when you are not. The forces of the universe are all conspiring in your favour. Then they are not.
You are still you. The sum total of you remains. The essence of you, what makes you you is still there. So how do you adapt to life after the golden age?
What’s new?
Jay-Z is widely recognised as one of hip-hop’s all-time greats, with some lauding him as the greatest. It’s fair to say that he enjoyed a longer golden age – a more sustained hot streak – than almost anyone. Yet all good things come to an end. Watching his 2017 New York Times interview the other day, I realised that Jay-Z would likely be first in line to acknowledge that his incredible winning streak is now done. He says:
“I think that rap in particular is a young man’s sport, that I’ll move out of that white-hot space. Rap is about the gift of discovery. To be the cool person in school you had to know newest music the newest dance move, have the newest clothing on. So rap is based on that: ‘What’s new?’ You have a window, and then you got to move past that and you have to find a way to exist. The white-hot space is when it’s fresh and new and it’s like ‘this is the hottest song ever’. I mean, I’ll push the window. I stood in that window a really long time. But I don’t think people are looking to me as the thing [any more].”
The white-hot space. This is the perfect phrase for those all-consuming but always fleeting golden times. The good times burn brightly. But they also tend to burn brief.
With age, Jay-Z would seem to have developed a healthy perspective on life on the other side of that golden age:
“At the end of day it’s not about the white-hot space. It’s about finding the truth. That white-hot space people think is the biggest thing. But it’s really small.”
He talks more about finding the truth. His priorities in life while inside the white-hot space were often about material acquisition, but these priorities have shifted since:
“Oh my goodness, oh the most beautiful things are not these objects. The most beautiful things are inside. The most beautiful things are the friendships I have. You can have all the watches and paintings in the world. But you don’t have a friend like its friends like I had the friendships I’ve acquired and the compassion and the person I’ve become. That’s what this chapter [in my life] is.”
No matter where you find yourself relative to life’s merry-go-round, I sincerely hope that these words find you in a good place today. Perhaps you are in the midst of a golden age right now. If so, may it exceed all expectations, while it lasts.
May you remember also that the beautiful things are inside.
May you be nothing but kind today, to others and to yourself.
May today be nothing but kind to you and yours.
IMAGES
- Matches lighting via Wikimedia Commons.
- Mark Gertler – Merry-Go-Round – Google Art Project via Wikimedia Commons.
- Jay-Z Glastonbury Festival 2008 via Wikimedia Commons.
MJCarty 
