Cinema Paradisio

Some cliches remain popular in spite of being rarely true. Take the one of the young person leaving home, a prophet without honour, seeking fame and fortune (or just fame) in the big wide world beyond the small village. In the myth it is this action that is the hard one, leaving the comfort and security of a small pond where medium-size fishdom is assured, and heading for the bright lights and big cities where the going is tough but where the tough have already got going in the leaving of home. Glittering Prizes are the reward for the uprooting. Except that in the real life of non-cliches, leaving home assures you of nothing except a dingy bedsitter and a battle to find a Laundry. The golden ring remains out of reach while you try to overcome all the obstacles put in your way by the other argonauts. Going to take a lot of luck; discovering which is the right place and what time you are due there; developing a ruthless streak and the gift of the gab. Hard work is a (generally) necessary but not a sufficient condition. Maybe you should have settled for the small pond.