Anyone feel like your life is irrelevant compared to Gaga's?

[Katie14 4,828]

I am so proud of Gaga. She deserves all the success she has had in her career and I am beyond happy for her. However, does anyone else feel kind of sad thinking about your own life and comparing your successes with hers? I've been feeling that my life and my day to day tasks are so small and irrelevant and I feel disappointed with myself and kind of hopeless. Gaga said recently in an interview that her parents always nurtured her creative talents and encouraged her. She mentioned that not everyone has that experience and she wouldn't be where she is now without them. I am one of those people who didn't have that kind of positive experience growing up. My parents are wonderful but they always turned their noses up at "creative" careers and encouraged me to take the safe route. I never discovered that I am interested in the arts until a few years ago (im 26) and I decided to fully pursue a creative career less than a year ago. Not only am I behind, I missed the opportunity to have a creative identity as a child and study a creative subject in college. I'm frustrated with my parents and even more so with myself for being too shy, having too much social anxiety, and having zero confidence to try new things and figure out what I was passionate about early on. 

I guess Gaga's recent massive success has brought up some negative feelings I have about myself and my life trajectory and I can't help but feel tons of regret for the choices I made and frustrated about the experiences that were out of my control. I wonder how much further ahead I would be if I had parents who had a different view on creative careers or if I had more of a mind of my own when I was younger (I can't fully blame them). Can anyone relate? 

[JohnnyVersace 8,556]

I think other people's success in general makes me reevaluate my life and try to figure out how I can do more, be better, etc.

But also, it's never too late to change! And you should honestly chase your dreams, rather than stay resentful towards you parents and your past. It really creates cyclical negativity. 

[Borislshere 52,619]

5 minutes ago, Katie14 said:

She mentioned that not everyone has that experience and she wouldn't be where she is now without them. I am one of those people who didn't have that kind of positive experience growing up. My parents are wonderful but they always turned their noses up at "creative" careers and encouraged me to take the safe route. I never discovered that I am interested in the arts until a few years ago (im 26) and I decided to fully pursue a creative career less than a year ago. Not only am I behind, I missed the opportunity to have a creative identity as a child and study a creative subject in college. I'm frustrated with my parents and even more so with myself for being too shy, having too much social anxiety, and having zero confidence to try new things and figure out what I was passionate about early on. 

Reading this hit home. My life has been so similar to this it's crazy. But it's made me think about the kind of parent/ role model I want to be for my future kids. I wouldn't say I'm jealous of Gaga but I do wish I had parents or just a support system like hers. I'd love to have been encourage at a younger age to try new things and explore instead of being forced to think about "serious" careers. 

[Katie14 4,828]

1 minute ago, JohnnyVersace said:

I think other people's success in general makes me reevaluate my life and try to figure out how I can do more, be better, etc.

But also, it's never too late to change! And you should honestly chase your dreams, rather than stay resentful towards you parents and your past. It really creates cyclical negativity. 

I am chasing my dreams but Im still feeling sad and regretful. I can't seem to shake the feeling. Ive had it for a while but its been reignited in light of Gaga's recent success. 

[River 91,442]

Honey you are still young, 26 is nothing, some people are changing their career mid-life and they succeed in, you only began your life..

A celebrity success is a bit of an illusion, with money and success comes a lot of pain and misery sometimes.. watch 5F2 again to give you a reminder what Gaga has to pay for this success..

So just be happy for her, support her and do the best to have your own little success, it might not give you a house in Malibu but it may give you a lot of personal happiness.. richness and success can be minimal and still make you happy

[RAMROD 96,650]

Nope. I am succesful man on my own right myself. Bought my own house and cars, and tickets to travel abroad.

But anyway, why do you compare your life to her?! That is looking for trouble  Each person have their own path and story. It is unique to each person. So cannot really compare your life to another. The grass will always look greener on the other side. 

[TheodoreRx 1,540]

I relate to this a lot. I also am feeling like I didn't start my career or creative endeavors at a young enough age and feel as though my parents didn't see anything in me. It's just a much too overpopulated and competitive world, there's too many ways you can feel insecure due to capitalism. 

[Reality 65,768]

I can relate to what you're saying. I wanted to pursue a major in fine arts or visual arts, but my parents (mainly my dad) wanted me to pursue a more "traditional" degree, and so now I'm a computer science major. However, even though I was initially very reluctant about it, I've grown to really like the subject and the material. I don't know what you studied before, but good for you for studying what you love now!

I wouldn't say that your life is "irrelevant" compared to Gaga's though. I understand that she may have an outlandish life, wanting to do as much as possible for everyone and accomplishing feats that most of us only dream of, but you just can't go around comparing your life to other people's. Your life is not irrelevant. Everyone's put on this earth for a reason and your life has just as much value as mine, as Gaga's, as any other person on this earth.

Life is full of frustration, anger, and regret, and trust me, I have a lot of those too, but you can't let your life be defined by those things. All you gotta do is live your best life and continue on a path that you love. 

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

Not everyone who suffers is an artist but as artists we have to suffer. I feel similar. Im now 29. I feel like I wasted my best years with inertia. Doing nothing but observing life and feeling sorry for myself.  Not really living. Gaga is my leader. If there was a real life Gaga in my life I would totally join her or him and start our own art crew together. But there isn’t. Everyone I meet is miserable. Addicted to their phone and seeing perfect images of perfect people with perfect lives. A perfect illusion. They follow hollow airbrushed people on Instagram who wear free sh-T. So I am alone. I love my family and I love Gaga - she’s kind of a part of the family now. And that’s it. Im inspired by the greats: Einstein, Shakespeare, classical Greek and Roman sculpture, oriental civilisations. I like to read. One day I will be brave enough to start something without permission...I want to be a leader 

[Cassidyfal 758]

Who doesn't wanna have a job in the art industry, the sad part is the fact that you have to get paid by popularity  

[JazzGa 14,348]

Remember that although Gaga found her path to success through the privileges of starting young and having supportive parents, not every successful musician or artist has followed the same path as her. Just because you don't share some parts of her story, doesn't mean you won't also find happiness and success in your own creative career  

[xeynuraf 191]

When I was growing up my family members did the same thing. Even my school counselor told me to get a career that I could depend on. That art was a dead end.  It really just showed their ignorance about the creative possibilities with today's technology and how accecible it makes it to potential customers. Anyways art is all I ever did. It defined me among my peers. I have painted and drawn my whole life so I just kept at it. 

Life is so strange. If you keep doing your thing you will meet people and places so things do inevitably happen. I'm not going to lie, all those naysayers did give me tons of fear and insecurities for years and I regret it, but I kept doing what was natural to me. Now I work as an artist doing translucent art on fiber glass with an assistant and my bosses buys me bottles of champagne to celebrate  compleated deadlines and consult me in Miami.  I also do visual merchandising for a company that pays for my international travels.

Moral of the story: you don't need motivation or support from anyone. Just be yourself, always do your thing and life might unravel. It might take time and it might not but at least you did what made you happy.

[raragaga 8,069]

if there's anyone who understands life's curve balls, it's me. and if i can give you any advice... your life is 100% not irrelevant, and you can't compare yourself to other people. there's a purpose for all of us. everyone's life is its own work of art. some people go searching for their purpose for the rest of their lives. TG you found it now. if your path is art, then ****ing create art! and use what you've experienced as a story to tell. 

[LordEnigma 11,313]

Out of the billions of years of existence of the universe, you have a life in the here and now. Take control of what you can and try to remind yourself to “feed” your passion. You can’t change anything in your past so what can you do to nurture your talent today and tomorrow?

Its ok to have these feelings but don’t beat yourself up over it.

[StJerome 164]

You have time. And one thing you can access just as readily as Gaga is the power of reinvention, because it’s fully within your control. One second you’re one person, then suddenly you’re someone else.

You have a lot of time still to go at 26. I’m the same age and have the same anxieties. It’s what’s going to propel us forward!

And the experience you’ve had struggling with being pushed in one direction and needing to find the authenticity within yourself to redirect, that is raw material that you can inject into creative work as subject matter. And sometimes more elusive than creativity is *content*. And now you’ve got it!

Learn another thing from Gaga– lean into your perceived weaknesses. If you’re ashamed of starting late, turn it into your brand. There is power to be claimed there.