Tuesday 12 November 2013

Blog Anniversary of Some Kind


Though I don’t feel eligible to celebrate it – after keeping silent for so long and blogging so infrequently (for a multitude of reasons, not only work-, but also RA-related).
No – you need not worry. RA still is my one and only ;o)

I am just not so overly enthusiastic about Thorin. He depresses me. His fate depresses me and its parallels to my own life and the uncertainties regarding what is needed of one to fulfill one’s fate cause me utter despair.
To keep my mind in working order – though good working order is not what my mind currently readily accepts - I need to reduce the despair input, so to speak RA, rather Thorin.

But why I take up the pen and write a new post today is, because lately, I really would like to ask RA a question:

How did he, in his early teens, manage to convince his parents to allow him a different educational / career path than his brother?
That is something that really puzzles me and something though I might have urgently needed, did not manage at the required time. My parents were rather of the belief to keep me in line and ‘form’ me, though I was never one to step out of line and to rebel.
The only difference I had compared to my sister was, that I stayed – or was left to maintain the obligations my sister rushed into obtaining, while she lightheartedly and without remorse or causing offence or ill feelings or grudges managed to abandon, while I had to remain (to replace her) and was bound.
As this also caused me to spend much more time with making music, this was something I was not too unhappy with and for a long while thought music to be my career path.
But for that, what I only later discovered, I would have needed earlier support and guidance for my career path, which I openly declared to be my choice when I was 9 years old.

So, I come back to my question, how did RA convince his parents to support him in his chosen career so early on, when mine only saw my choice as passing fancy and my piano teacher much rather had supported my sister (who did not care for music and her talent) than me, holding the strong belief only one child in a family (and at that only the older one) would really put energy into her learning. He nearly did not take me on as a pupil at all and then only after my father (not playing the piano himself) taught me the first year and then I had to pass the teacher’s invented test to qualify.
No, certainly no help ever came from him, though my sister pressed me into his choir (as she was only allowed to join if I went along). I never had wanted to join, but then supported it for years, while my sister almost instantly left again.
The good thing for me is, that I closed the chapter of a musical career in my late years at school, when I realized the option was gone. I never delve in ‘may-have-been’ things, but rather focus on what options still are available.

Still, I am utterly curious how RA managed that essential first step of his way into the career of an actor. (And here not necessarily the official version, but the ‘real’ one.)

16 comments:

  1. Your parents sound unusual to me. I think either Richard Armitage's parents saw that he was very unhappy and didn't fit in because of his interest in performing arts, or they recognized talent and had enough confidence in his decisions that they knew he would be a serious student. From his descriptions of them, they don't strike me as people who would not think it through. I vacillate between the two- but for either reason, they were parents who went the extra steps to try and ensure their child's happiness.

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    1. Thank you very much, armitageagonistes!
      Now that I am an adult and have deeper insight in the story and history of my parents, I understand their reasoning for not wanting me or my sister to misstep. They tried to control us to guarantee that. They already had their share of rumours and scandals in their life - not of their own doing, but caused by envy and the meanness of others. The ill health of my sister also added to their trying to controll our surrounding and what we did at all times.
      Two wild children adding uncertainty and more scandal in a small village with our enemies close by, watching every step (Because of them I know that rumour does certainly not need some truth as a basis, but can be totally invented.), they would not have been able to handle and so they took strict control.
      The strictnes evaporated and continually changed, when I was about 18 and my sister had already left to study in town. That was the time I really learned to know my parents and we are still very close and they are my most cherished advisers and supporters in my difficult career choices now.
      My parents wanted to give my sister and me a good basis, but they would never have allowed something unusual. RA's comment about his mother not raising her voice or drawing attention in public reminds me very much of my mother, who is an absolutely lovely and caring person, having a good word for everyone.
      But in total, that leaves me still wondering, how RA managed to get his special way.

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  2. Damn, where did my previous comment go, left earlier this morning... Cross-platform commenting is difficult. Otherwise I would be a subscriber to your blog. So, first of all happy bloggoversary, C! We are twins - my blogging activity was born on the 12th of Nov, too.
    Anyway, as to RA and his parents' support - only speculation, so I'll refrain. I would imagine, though, that outside influence also plays a part, i.e. a teacher recognising talent, and pushing for the child's sake in front of the parents, adding more weight to the wish to explore an unusual career path. I am sorry to read that you regret having held back from realising your talent. Allowing a child to possibly fail is a parenting choice that you have to be really strong for, I suppose. I hope you still enjoy playing music. It's good to read that you still have a very good relationship with your parents.

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    1. Happy bloggiversary to you, too, Guylty!!!! Twin-RABloggers ;o)
      Sorry about your first comment. I had thought the problems with the new G+ commenting were over, but perhaps ... (Must have a closer look into it again.)
      Regarding blog-subscription, I added a mail alert function in the sidebar a short while ago. Though, getting over 400 mails daily and being absolutely exhausted having to look through them and filtering out the important information myself, I am not in the habit of pressing anybody to subscribe to one single further mail alert and so did not mention it at the time. Perhaps that helps to get updates from my irregular blogging ;o)

      You have a good point here, Guylty. There are so many influences necessary to change or determine the path.
      Thank you for your insightful comment !

      Yes, I still play the piano. Much less than I would like to, but I still enjoy doing it and it helps clear and sort out my mind. It is hard with having no clear goals. My father wants (rather demands now, after some years pause) his new CD recording from me. So I should focus my straying efforts on some new pieces to record, though my recording technology is fluctuating away with all the recent computer breakdowns and it becomes a real effort to maintain them in working order.

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  3. Being the 3rd child, my 2 older siblings were the ones who got the dancing and music lessons they didn't want. I was the one who wanted them and didn't get them because my parents were "tired." Neither went on to continue with music or dance. I never got a chance, life got in the way.

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    1. Oh, I am sorry to hear that, TheArkenstone. I hope you now have a bit the opportunity to live what you enjoy to do. Please enjoy!!!! (If not for yourself, please do it for me ;o)
      I think, my parents were exhausted with all the decisions to make for my older sister and her health and were glad to be able to spare a bit of effort and make me a copy.

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  4. Congrats on your Blogoversary! RA's parents were really supportive I would say. His mother went back to work to be able to send him to the school in Coventry, so it wasn't just agreeing for him to go, they also fully committed to this. Not to mention supporting his career goals after - remember him mentioning the first car he bought was during Spooks, that before he had always inherited is father's old cars! He seems to be close to them to this day, as far as we can tell of course.

    My parents are gone now, and I miss them every day.

    Good Luck C! Glad you have your parent's support with your career these days.

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    1. Thank you very much, Faboamanto !!!
      Yes, I am lucky with my parents and that I still have them. They supported me in my hard decision to leave my last secure (?) job, when the situation with the boss escalated and were there for me every step of the way. They also were supportive to start my rather insecure way into my current profession and are my greatest fans and first critiques ;o)
      In my childhood, being a rather frightened child to begin with, they rather enhanced my fears than busted my confidence. Now that I know their effects on me, I can better counteract ;o)

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  5. He said once that he bugged his mother about the decision to go to Pattisons, so I'm sure he did some pestering on his own side ...

    Happy blogiversary! I'm learning to say things like "glad you're still with us!"

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    1. I bugged mine about a musical oriented Gymnasium ;o)
      I think my parents also feared the pre-determination and the exclusion of other career options of such a choice.
      It must have been a hard decision to make for his parents and I admire them for it. Not that I don't admire mine for not making it. Who knows, if I would be one more musician on the streets and out of work here and if in the end I would have been content with the decision.
      I am rather glad with what I was able to discover and what wide areas I now can work in, though I would like to have more results than I can manage. But time will show, if I can live up to my 'fate' and make something positive of it or will go under.

      Thank you, Servetus ! Also for mentioning me and my post on your blog !!!
      I am still around, not very active, but ... struggling ;o)
      When I write my blog posts, I work hardest and for a strange reason I will never be able to entirely solve, am the most effective in my work also.

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  6. Congrats on your anniversary!
    As to RA's upbringing, I don't know if anyone who has commented is a parent, but I never understood until becoming a parent myself how in tune a parent can be with a child. I think RA's parents did what comes naturally--they understood what was important to him (or at least understood THAT it was important to him), and wanted to see him happy.

    BTW, how do we know that his brother has a more traditional career or educational history? Do we even know what he does? Perhaps Richard was not the only non-traditional kid in the bunch.

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    1. Thank you very much, Anonymous.
      (I hope you did not have problems with the registration for a comment. I am currently looking into making it easier, but so far don't have a solution.)
      I am sure RA has an exceptional brother as well, though I would never try to discover more than RA willingly reveales about his family. And as he makes them sound, they are exceptional and lovingly close.

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  7. Happy anniversary! And please keep going. From what Mr. A has said of his parents, we can only admire them - they are splendid! My parents were dubious about my passionate desire to be a ballet dancer, but they paid for extra-curricular ballet lessons. (The ballet teachers discerned no particular talent, but the training wasn't wasted - it complemented a natural gymnastic ability - more athletic than balletic, me!)

    Congratulations on the anniversary, and I look forward to much more.

    fitzg

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    1. Thank you very much, fitzg!
      Your training sounds very interesting and it made you discover your athletic talents, so it was not wasted, even if it did not lead into the straight forward career. That is a bonus in itself and I hope you enjoyed your ballet lessons.

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  8. I hope it's not too late to say all the best wishes to your blogiversary!

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    1. Welcome and thank you very much, Ania!
      No, it is never too late. You can comment any time you find my posts or find something interesting.
      I welcome your comments.
      Thank you !

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