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No. 391065
Society values the youth. Any time a young person does something does some considered exceptional for their age it's all over the media. Even online there are amazing artists that have only entered their teens. Seeing this can make anyone feel insecure about their age and what they've accomplished. I see it on here all the time, and it would be a lie if I said I didn't have those feelings.
Your potential doesn't diminish at the age of 25 and it certainly doesn't extinguish itself at the rip old age of 30. Use this thread to collect, document and discussion people that accomplished goal and/or became successful at a later age from what we see. When those exposes is asymmetrical toward those younger, it makes us feel it if you can't young it doesn't exist. Well, /that's not true/. We'll never get younger, only older. So, it's best we realise that /our life isn't over/ and we have decades left to live. Do something you enjoy and be proud of it. We can go it sisters.
First example is this BAD ASS, right here. Her name is Mary Hobson.
>She learned Russian at 56, as you felt she wouldn't be able to fully understand "War and Peace" if you didn't read it in Tolstoy's original text. >When to Uni at 62>Finished in PhD at 74>In Russia is now considered one o the preeminent scholars of Pushkin.https://www.rbth.com/arts/literature/2016/04/22/learning-russian-has-given-me-a-whole-new-life_587093 No. 391068
File: 1553593876201.gif (220.94 KB, 700x450, AnnLeckieAncillaryMercy.gif)
Sorry, for the spelling mistakes.
>Ann Leckie had her first novel published at 47. Said novel when on to win The Hugo, The Nebula, The Arthur. C. Clark AND BSFA Award.
No. 391070
>>391065That is super impressive tbh, Russian is hard af and not to contradict the spirit of the thread but languages are one thing that really do get harder as you age. But life long learning is important, I take a Russian class with a bunch of older people and the teacher often mentions how it helps prevent dementia.
But anyway, great idea for a thread. I've mostly moved past my fear of aging and look forward to many years of learning new things, it's exciting to think about. My goal isn't so much success as having fulfilling hobbies, but either are possible for much longer than youngins on the internet seem to think.
No. 391074
>>391070Thanks, with all the depression around these parts, this idea to post this thread had been percolating around my head for some months. It got retriggered, because of the quarter life crisis thread.
As Mary shows despite languages being perceived as harder when you age it's is NOT impossible. You just need interest and motivation. Also, tells me not to worry if I not a Polyglot by 30.
No. 391081
File: 1553597569980.jpg (67.47 KB, 415x594, Kathryn Joosten.jpg)
Kathryn Joosten
>Started acting career at after being a nurse
>Worked as a street performer at Disney at 53
>After years in Hollywood won an Emmy at 66.
RIP.
No. 391084
File: 1553598244341.jpg (864.79 KB, 3176x2644, Paul_Gauguin_109.jpg)
>Post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin started painting in his 40's after losing his job at a bank.
No. 391092
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Christoph Waltz was already acting beforehand, but got his first american role at the age of 53. Just 3 years later he had won 2 Oscars.
Mads Mikkelsen only started acting at the age of 31.
No. 391094
File: 1553601206404.jpg (113.69 KB, 1024x903, GettyImages-850228016-1024x903…)
What a great idea thread! Unskilledworker on IG started painting at age 48 without formal training and you may have seen her work at Gucci.
https://qz.com/591755/this-self-taught-artist-began-painting-at-age-48-and-rose-to-international-fame-just-a-year-later/ No. 391095
>>391092Samefag, but I wanted to add this: most of the time learning languages really seem to be the key.
If Waltz wasn't so good at english, he might have never been offered those roles. Mikkelsen also speaks multiple languages, which allowed him to promote and star in movies in various countries.
No. 391165
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I love this thread idea. Here's a smaller scale one I really like.
Vashti Bunyan is a musician who released one album in the late 60s. It did very poorly, and she gave up on music for the next 30 years to raise her kids. Her unique sound and style gained a cult following over the years, eventually leading to a re-release of her first album and a blossoming music career in her late 60s, early 70s. It warms my heart.
No. 391200
>>391165I love Vashti! Great example.
best song:
No. 391417
File: 1553676176472.jpeg (53.73 KB, 730x547, BCCB44B4-9F5E-43E2-A8F4-59A2D6…)
Thank you to the anon that posted this
No. 391419
File: 1553677151013.gif (6.62 KB, 220x220, tenor.gif)
>>391417This very much, I appreciate everyone contributing. Thank you, OP for starting this thread.
I wish I could add something but I only have famous examples of people achieving success later in life like Miguel de Cervantes.
No. 391504
>>391315That's beautiful anon. Although much less impressive, my gran learnt to type for the first time when we gave her a laptop in her seventies, and she had a great time just looking all sorts of things up and messaging people on Facebook that she had lost track of decades before.
To me that was pretty cool, you can unlock new skills that lead to be social opportunities at any time in your life. Can't wait to see all you bitches on lolcow VR when I'm 90.
No. 391513
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Published at age 63
No. 391523
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>Joy Magano
>Broke and divorced
>Invented self-wringing mop at 40yo
>Millionaire inventor by the year 2000
No. 391533
Actors who started out late:
>Christoph Waltz, got his first role at 51
>Alan Rickman, went into acting school (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, nonetheless) at 30, got his first big role at 46
>Naomi Watts, first big role at 31
>Alexander Skarsgard, first big role at 31
>Kristen Wiig, first big role at 32
>Jeremy Renner, first big role at 38
>Morgan Freeman, first big role at 52
>Samuel L Jackson, first big role at 45
>Harrison Ford, started acting at 33
>Jessica Chastain, started acting at 34
No. 391543
File: 1553711581789.jpg (8.14 MB, 2645x4000, Francisco_José_de_Goya_y_Lucie…)
For all the artists out there, Francisco Goya didn't get his first major portrait commission until he was 37.
No. 391631
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I just watched some old episode of the real housewives of Beverly Hills and the women on the show literally talked about this. They said that their careers started in their 40s and that they finally have time and feel setteled down enough to partake in new projects. One of them said that she used to be a broke waitress in her 20s and another one said she was too busy raising children and is just now finally “living”.
The broke waitress is now a pop singer in her 40s, it really isn’t too late to do anything. I know this might not be as inspirational as the other examples in the thread, since these women’s have rich husbands that help them. However, it really made me feel at ease and hopeful to see women in their 40s/50s living their dreams and finding new hobbies.
No. 391672
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Yayoi Kusama didn't show her work until she was 28, and even then she didn't really start showing or make work seriously until her early 30s. Louise Bourgeious had her first show at 32. Both are two of the most well known contemporary female artists of the 20th century. Marina Abramovich also didn't start until she was 27 and didn't do anything significant career wise until her early 30s.
No. 391784
Bless you for this thread OP, I'm 32 and feel like I'm too late to achieve something anymore.
All artists/actors/musicians/… are always so young or started young…
>>39108526 is very young to start your own business, especially in our current society. Wishing you best of luck, anon!
No. 392146
>>391998This so much. It's as if your life is supposed to be perfectly in order once you reach 30. You're supposed to have your dream job, house, partner and don't you dare have any mental health issues or be depressed, those are only for younger people to have.
I want to go back to school to get a diploma in programming but my parents keep telling me I'm too old to "still" get into that and that 18 year olds will easily surpass me. I'm only 32, Am I supposed to do this non-fullfilling job for the rest of my life because I made some mistakes in my youth then?
No. 392167
>>392149Anon I just wanted to let you know how inspiration this is to me. I started learning programming at the same age, and now at the age of 28 I'm considering applying for some junior positions.
There's this strong feeling of being an impostor and not worthy enough but I truly love what I do. So, reading stuff like this makes me happy and motivates me to pursue my dream. I'm constantly going between, "I should do this" and "Why bother?"
I just worry I'll be stuck with some hip kids all fresh from high school and I'll be the old grandma with my memepad and arch linux. So, I'm screenshoting this as a daily reminder. Thanks again.
No. 392180
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>>392174I love you anon. You have no idea how much this means to me. I hope other anons that are aspiring to become programmers see your message too.
No. 392202
>>392149>>392167How the fuck did you guys start out? What books or materials did you read?
God I want to be you guys.
No. 392256
>>391084Thanks for this, anon. I'm going ahead with my painting plans, even if it takes time.
>>391280There's also that people who burn bright when they're young can burn out soon too. Not everyone of course, but you have the 27 club, young musicians and actors who seemed to have it all dropping like flies from depression and drugs. It can be better to evolve slowly, unremarkably at first, and start on a career path you love when you're older and perhaps your psyche is more able to deal with the pressure that comes with unexpected fame.
No. 392261
>>391631While I often feel the rich women in these shows dress ridiculously, the way people don't give a fuck when they age and wear whatever they want is actually not obnoxious on someone who takes care of themselves and puts some thought in the outfit. I'd rather see an older, fit woman in one of those shiny dresses than a bear bellied old man with his gut hanging out of a stained wifebeater, stinking of gave-up-on-life-years-ago.
>>392146Keep your nose to the grindstone, anon. If you're in decently good health, 32 isn't too old for anything.
No. 392361
>>392202>>392250I don't know about the other anon, but I just learned to do things step by step using basic Google skills.
First I wanted to learn how to do a basic website with HTML and CSS, I think Codecademy still has free tutorials on that. Then I went on studying JavaScript and adding interactivity to sites. Then I went to study SQL, Python, and so on. But it also depends on what do you want to study now. There are so many paths you can take, devops, web development, sys admin, data analyst, machine learning etc. So, I can't give you a definite answer but here are some resources that may help you in figuring out:
A general foundation in programming:
https://github.com/ossu/computer-scienceWeb dev path:
https://github.com/kamranahmedse/developer-roadmap?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6_awesome_css_extensions_for_vs_code_6_hot_vs_code_themes_of_2019&utm_term=2019-01-16Codecademy:
https://www.codecademy.com/Freecodecamp:
https://www.freecodecamp.org/And lots of Udemy courses on various topics but when you're starting I think that there are Youtube tutorials on almost anything, like Traversy Media and Freecodecamp, so no need to pay for anything.
No. 394736
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A man at 74 years old starts his cooking career
No. 394765
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Bob Ross started his painting career in his 40's, after serving 20 years in the military.
>>394736Anon, that's Danny DeVito.
No. 509049
>>391417I know this message was 10 months ago but I want to say thank you. I really appreciate it. My uncle just died of Cancer on Tuesday, the exact same type of cancer that took my Nan, around 2 1/2 years ago. Which means all of my family is at high risk of this cancer. Life truly is too short. Do what makes you happy and try not to compare yourself. Even if you achieve what you want at 40, at least you achieved that goal, rather than than wasting your 20 wondering why 'I'm not good enough now.'
>>391419Famous examples are only encourage not dismissed!
No. 510214
>>510196I grew up somewhere in Asia and it's a stigma if you're not a college graduate and have a stable job at 21-23 yet. Glad I managed to get out of that hellhole.
College dropout here and trying to unfuck myself that it's okay to go back studying when I'm finally pushing in my 30s.
No. 510234
>>510196I think it's because people focus way too much on the "experience" of college than it actually a place where you go to learn something useful and grow the fuck up.
>>510106I got into college when I was 20-21. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your decision. Get your degree for yourself and don't measure your life in the impossible terms of the world.
No. 510460
>>510196Ayrt but basically everything what
>>510214 said. As a freshman, I'm only surrounded by 17/18 year olds and when they ask how old I am they get shocked cause it's really not common here and they just assume I'm their age but when I tell them and see their reactions I end up feeling embarrassed.
>>510234Thank you, anon. I'm trying not to give a fuck anymore.
No. 517281
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Erika Jayne is almost 50 and a successful TV personality and pop singer. She didn't start her career until she was in her 40's. She's alsonstunning, at least IMO.
No. 553614
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This is a great thread. Growing up, I hardcore internalized the idea that you're an abject failure if you're not a top-of-the-field success story by your mid-20's, and it caused me to crash and burn as soon as I hit a professional rough patch.
It turns out that, if you're not an aspiring artist at least, that nobody in the professional world expects somebody in their mid 20's (or even mid-30's in many cases…) to know much of anything, so I wonder where this sentiment even comes from. Is it because young artistic talent and entrepreneurs are exalted in the media? Because higher SES parents put pressure on their kids to overperform? Because elders aren't valued in the West? Whatever the reason, it's setting youths up for failure. Even (especially?) on lolcow, some of the kids here seem to have bizzare beliefs about aging even over the most shallow, low-stakes shit like what types of clothes are too 'young' for 23-year-olds and I can't help but wonder how miserable they're going to be in a few years.
Blogpost aside, here are some contributions:
>Laura Ingalls Wilder, didn't start writing professionally until her 40's and published her first novel in her 60's>Craig Venter, famous geneticist/biotech entrepreneur, only got a Bachelor's degree at the age of 26 after spending years as a low-motivation bum>John Fenn, Chemist, published for the very first time at 32, a decade after leaving grad school, won a Nobel Prize in his 80'sHere's a positive study with respect to academia; onset of career didn't predict a scientist's level of impact or productivity.
> https://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6312/aaf5239Of course, age discrimination can be a hurdle when breaking into any new career.
No. 553704
>>553699Yeah, social comparison is a bitch, especially when you get to an age where people on a more 'traditional' success timeline are really starting to come into your own.
There's a good chance that some of those older people you talk to didn't have a clean path to success, though. For example, I had a mentor who spent nearly a DECADE in undergrad because she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life and kept switching her field of study. You'd never know if you only knew what she had accomplished since finding the right path.
It seems to be increasingly harder to take linear steps to success as well; I don't know what your specific situation is, but chances are that many, if not most people your age are struggling to gain their footing too.
No. 557856
>>557804becoming famous isn't the point lmao
the point is that you can still succesfully learn new skills or archieve goals at a later age and that it's worth doing so. That you're never too old to learn and that it's not worthless just because you're not a child or a teen anymore.
No. 557907
>>517281HAHAHA
I mean I’m a piece of shit but LOL. This probably was posted by one of the many mothers that actually shitpost on lolcow. Imagine being almost 50 and making songs like this
https://youtu.be/3hL99eTKil8 Kim K tier desperation
No. 616278
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I'm guessing hardcore inspired by mature students going back into education and doing something they've always wanted to do. And I came across this really heartwarming story. Since he was a kid he wanted to go university, but because of poverty and the war he wasn't able to in his youth, but all these years he still had the drive to want to complete a degree and fulfill his dream. This year he graduated at the top of his class in Philosophy at the age of 96. I'm so happy for him!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/05/realised-dream-italy-oldest-graduate-top-of-the-class-at-96>>557889Yes! It's never too late to retrain.
No. 617626
File: 1598630034474.jpg (401.98 KB, 1000x1404, hugh-pindur-pindurski-wherenon…)
I get depressed from time to time and I'm clearly not the only one that worries about her age. I've tried to draw for many years now but have had many stop starts.
I was watching the 'Draughtsmen' podcast called "Can you be a pro artist over 30?"
And I was reading a comment from an artist called Hugh Pindur. He was telling his story where he drew but he took a 17-year break. He only started to draw again when he was 34. He would rise at 2:30 a.m. for 3-months to self study for around 5 hours before he was due to start work. After a few years he started to get jobs and during that time his work started to improve as well as his profile. And now at 43, he gets commissions from Wizards of the Coast.
I looked him up and I thought the artwork look very familiar and then to my surprise I found out he was one of the people that posted on concept art, before it closed down. He actually posted on my thread and basically encourage me to continue drawing and not give up essentially. Not only is he a fantastic artist, but he seems like a really nice guy too.
I thought I would just share his story in case you didn't know about it. I guess it's one thing hearing people acquiring highly competent skills after an average age, but I guess it's a bit different when you see/hear people doing it at such a high professional level like getting work from
Wizards of the freaking coast.
>>553614>Age DiscriminationMaybe the Arts are different, because people see your work before they see your age?
No. 660090
>>617987Seriously, when I found out it was the same artist that gave me a Pep talk and found out his age, I was completely
SHOOK. Do you have a link to said interview? I'd LOVE to read it. :)
(I swear /ic/ would have you believe if you haven't made it by the ripe old age of 25 that you never going to make it in the industry. Like it's some Logan's run type shit.)
No. 661489
>>657694Is this actually true, or just something memed half to death?
I think it's just the point where you are very cognizant of having to actually study in order to learn. Also, being older we are much more critical of ourselves, then when we were kids. Feel free to post with an examples you find.
>>657837But, like this Anon says, people over the age of 25 usually have determination and the sense of direction to do self directed study. This is commonly said about mature students and their work ethic. They can do so well in whatever path they choose to study in, whether it's for pleasure or whether it is to get a degree or to get a professional qualification or change career path.
Not all hope is lost.
>>660562I have no idea why you are so aggressive and grudge-filled that you need to reply to this six days later. The thread wasn't locked and people can misread.
No. 663786
>>660562Jeez, unlike you I don't sleep on here, and have had more serious matters to deal with in real life.
I don't know where you got such a massive chip on your shoulder.
No. 663844
>>415448Related!
She seems lovely.
No. 663889
>>510106Going to college in your 20s is normal where I live. Usually when people make a big fuss about it, they're Americans, Russians or Asians. I started college at 22 because I was in a foreign country where I didn't speak the language, and going to the UK or Ireland was expensive and they don't grant visas easily to people from my country because everyone is trying to emigrate there.
There were some Russian girls in my class who kept calling me an "old woman" and telling me I'm not allowed to wear a miniskirt "at my age" and they were like… 17, even though a lot of other people in my class were even older.
No. 664100
I know everyone loves to shit on Jk Rowling right now and about how Harry Potter wasn’t that good, but it was a series for children and it meant a lot to me as a little kid. I didn’t carry that obsession into adulthood but I think it helped a lot of children in hopeless positions, the escape was important to me in second grade through sixth. Her growth and personal challenges are still very inspiring to me, and although she can be quite a cow at times (so many authors are lbr) I hate watching her get dogpiled because of her views on womanhood. It kind of scares me, like what are we eventually coming to? I don’t want to be a slave to other peoples delusions and roleplaying socially, kind of frightening to think about. Anyways end rant I’m just very thankful for how HP helped me as a child,
>>663855You aren’t going to gatekeep threads, stop with the waaah I only come to this thread because you’re all meanies shit.
No. 668693
>>664100 "Views on womanhood" lmao. It's a scientific fact that everyone knows to be true, but is denying to remain employed. It's tyranny.
>>667583And they have been… fired, harassed, physically assaulted. Normal non-rich women are the ones who have hit back and paid the price.
Rich, 'edgy' British male comedians, celeb scientists, journalists, etc whose whole shtick was they, and they alone, have the bravery to speak the troof… are now keeping quiet about the backlash on female sex based rights/science denialism to carry on making bank and remain popular on chat-show circuits lmao.
They are such fucking cowards. It's especially infuriating to me, as women are often smeared as morally-weak, social conformists, without much evidence. Why aren't these blokes getting called out?
Dawkins will go for suburban mothers and their tarot cards, but not delusional, bat-wielding raping troons. This is what he had to say…
"Is trans woman a woman? Purely semantic. If you define by chromosomes, no. If by self-identification, yes. I call her "she" out of courtesy."