"The future has an ancient heart" is a quote by Carlo Levi and also the title of a Dear Sugar column Cheryl Strayed wrote to inspire a graduating class of English majors. As Cheryl notes, "it expresses with such grace and economy what is certainly true - that who we become is born of who we most primitively are; that we both know and cannot possibly know what it is we've yet to make manifest in our lives."
This rings true for me as I am on my fifth month of living in New York, jobless but still in love with music. Doing freelance and part time jobs, but holding onto the dream of working in the music industry. Frustrated, but hopeful.
When you go to school for music business, they tell you networking is your key to success. They bring in people with inspiring stories who say they got the perfect first job. They tell you if you intern enough, you'll be employed right out of college.
What they don't tell you is there are 800+ applicants to every entry level job at one of the major labels. They don't tell you your classmates will switch majors or take jobs in PR outside of music just to pay rent. They don't tell you that trying your hardest will not always yield the results you're looking for.
But they also don't tell you when you find people that believe in and support you, that you'll feel like you can do anything. That you'll be forever grateful for them, and want to be successful just so you can help people the way they helped you. They don't tell you the months spent exploring the greatest city in the world, meeting people, and searching for the right fit will teach you so much about yourself. That even though you end up wondering why this journey is so tough, you won't want to give up.
So Carlo and Cheryl are right - the future may be uncertain, but in some way you already know what's coming. It might not happen exactly how you envisioned or when you wanted it to, but what has always been in your heart will power you through. So that's why I will still try my hardest to find a great fit for myself in the music industry - spending my nights reading up on industry current events and seeing live music - and if someone asks me what I'm doing with my life now I can answer I'm "[letting] whatever mysterious starlight that guided [me] this far, guide [me] onward into whatever crazy beauty awaits," as Cheryl would say.