Career Clinic: I Want To Be A Star, Dubai

Q. I am 37 working at a really good job in healthcare, and my husband is doing well, too.

We have a good life in Dubai with a major hospital.  However, I’ve always had wanted to become a singer, a true talent for my generation.

I write songs, I perform in local shows, and even some clubs. I also want to do some acting, mostly commercials. Shame I got this idea a little too late, most people start in their teens!

We have saved enough to move back to Los Angeles and start over. I’d love to go on tour with Beyonce one day, or be in one of those car commercials.

I hope I don’t sound silly, I just am so bored with my job after 10 years, when my creative side is bursting to get out.

I also want to have children asap.  My career aspirations, and my need to be a mother? How do I choose!

Dreaming Dana,

Dubai

A. I’m not going to give you the cookie cutter answer — follow your dreams.

Obviously, you don’t even really know what dreams you want.

Let’s look at the facts. You are in prime baby making years.  Yet, you can still make babies in your 40s. But, science still hasn’t come up with a way to safely extend your baby making years into forever land.

With that being said, if you are really ready to be a mother, focus on that. The UAE is a great place to raise children.  

Think hard about moving first.  Everything you want to do hinges on that.  Once you make that decision, start building a new foundation.  

When we change, our environment must change.  What feels good is not always good for you.  At 27, you  had one environment.  At 37, your needs have changed, and so must your environment – physically or otherwise.

So, Dana, you need to focus, and get real.  It’s easy to live under the glitz and glam of Dubai and feel you can do anything in the world.  However, it may not be as easy as picking up and going back.  

It took me several years to “land” after moving back from Abu Dhabi to NYC.  Consider the emotional costs, and the time it takes to “get it together”.

I am not sure of the acting options in the UAE, so if you are stuck on that, take your savings and move back to LA.  Start with commercials.  It only takes a day or two to shoot, then you are done, with a nice check at the end.  

You think it may be singing or acting, when you actually just need a fresh start.  I caution you about being so flaky about all this. Do you want to sing? Or act?

Choose a route and take small steps. Make your husband apart of it all.  So, he can feel just as invested.  Build your future together. With a foundation and structure, everything falls into place.

Originally posted 2019-11-04 06:00:46.