Transitions

Yesterday morning I was doing a zoom session with a parent and a 10-year-old boy. The agent told the parent and the kid that “when Lewis says you're ready. I'll take you on.” (I've done this for a few agents over the years, so it wasn't like it came out of the blue.) I told them halfway through the session that I'm not taking on too many new clients and he just said, “Mr. Baumander I will try so hard…please help me”. What are you going to say to a 10-year-old who is pleading with you as if his life...

AH! THE TEEN YEARS – A HORMONAL SHITSTORM I think I was a teenager once. It’s hard to remember.... A long time ago in a faraway land, I woke up in this chemical furnace called my body and wondered “WTF?” All of a sudden there were a lot of questions without any answers. Everyone else seemed to know the rules and I learned quickly that there were different rules for different societal roles (i.e. gender, race, economic status, etc.) It really depended on the game you were playing or born into and whose team drafted you. I remember feeling like “hey...

Mostly, I remember being nervous, sweaty and bewildered. There were those in the know and those who listened to the tales of those who knew. Years later I described it as listening to Homer tell the stories of Ulysses or Jason from Greek legends returning from their adventures abroad.  As I listened to other boys talk, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. These stories couldn’t be true yet there was no way to prove or disprove them other than trying it out for yourself. The movie “Super Bad” comes to mind…I think I was Michael Cera. There are, of...

THE LATER TEEN YEARS are the ones fraught with the most anxiety. Hormones speak louder than words yet often make us deaf to common sense. Whoever came up with the expression “patience is a virtue” raised a teenager.   There are many coming of age stories. There are romantic ones (“The Twilight Saga”) and tragic ones (“Romeo and Juliet”). They can appear in every genre. The horror genre is perfect for stereotypes. “Carrie” being the greatest one of all. “The Breakfast Club” remains a benchmark coming of age film.  My personal favorites are “Stand by Me” and “My Own Private...