If Timing Is Everything, I Might Need A New Watch

            We’ve all heard the expression. What’s more, we’ve probably all used it. “Timing is everything” is one of those things you hear when someone offers you comfort over the job you didn’t get or the guy that can’t date you because he’s already dating someone else. (Both have happened to me.) It can also be used as a gentle reminder to “get over yourself” when your devastation is at epoch levels upon discovering the tickets to Phil Collins’ reunion tour were already sold out by the time you found out about it. (Did not happen to me… or did it?) It’s an expression that makes us grit our teeth and want to punch the person who’s uttering it right it in the face after he or she says it, while simultaneously recognizing they are dead-on right. Just take a look at my life!

            When it comes to career aspirations, timing-is-everything should be my middle name. As an actor, looks are important. Some might even say they are everything and to some degree they are. After all, there are auditions where you literally must “type in” before you even get the opportunity to perform for the casting people. In my twenties, I apparently was not the right “type” most of the time. I was continually told, “Wait ‘til you are older. Boy, are you going to work then!” I think that was a way of politely saying I was just too young to play the character parts I so desperately wanted to play, parts which were typically relegated to women in their forties and beyond. But now that I AM older, I still struggle to find my place in the acting world and get cast in the roles I am fired up for. And ironically, I am STILL hearing I am “too young.” (True story.) So it comes back to the question of timing. If the timing is never right for the things you are doing, then maybe you need to DO something different! My acting teacher always reminded our class, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” So perhaps it’s me that needs to reevaluate what roles I am pursuing, and if they are, in fact, really right for me at this point in my life!

            Timing certainly comes into play as a writer too. I’ve written four plays and a screenplay to date, and trying to get the timing to work out on those has always been a challenge. One of my dreams was to have my play produced in the New York International Fringe Festival and finally with my fourth play, "Elephants and Other Worldly Dilemmas", my dream became a reality. Isn’t that proof timing is everything? Yes and no. It was a career highlight and one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I am so grateful to everyone at the Fringe for making me a part of their very special world. The timing definitely worked out in that scenario. But… it took seven years and submitting my first three plays unsuccessfully and then submitting my fourth play a total of three times before it happened. So was timing EVERYTHING or was it just a case of good old-fashioned PERSISTENCE? In truth, I think it was a combination of both.

            I’m not saying some universal luck doesn’t have anything to do with success. I absolutely stated as much in my blog the other week, With Age Comes Wisdom. Sometimes we need to tell ourselves “Timing is everything” to push ourselves to keep going, not give up on the things we want in life and trust that the timing will work out eventually. But it should also be noted that IF we want the timing to work out, we must also be aware of the literal passage of time. And hence, comes my watch. Someone once called me Just-In-The-Knick-Of-Time-Dina, the person who sailed in at the last possible second to wherever I needed to be. If timing is everything, then you must be aware of time itself! One of my impeccably punctual friends often says, “Being on time means you’re already late.” Not sure if my just-in-the-knick-of-time heart quite agrees with that, but being early gives you a moment to catch your breath, assess what’s going on and prepare yourself. So maybe instead of  “Timing is everything,” I should say, “Timing matters.” Because it does. After all, when the right time comes, I certainly don’t want to miss it by being late!