I had one of those meetings this week — you know the kind. A reconnection with someone from my past, someone I once called a friend, who used to be in my corner creatively. We hadn’t spoken in years. I reached out with sincerity, a little nostalgia, and a genuine desire to reconnect. He's in the industry, has connections and has some small films he's helped to make happen. I contacted him not to get any favors, but to keep him apprised that I had returned to screenwriting, my work was getting noticed in competitions and I was looking for partnerships. I actually feel I was doing him a favor by giving him "right of first refusal" to contribute to anything I'm working on.
The meeting started friendly enough. But it didn’t take long before I realized something: not every door needs to be reopened.
Instead of curiosity, I got condescension. Instead of engagement, deflection. And instead of any kind of support, I got a dismissive lecture on “reality.” (Their version, not mine.)
According to him, the only way forward was to self-finance a $25,000 weekend shoot — a patchwork, microbudget vanity project. That’s his reality. Mine is different. I’m building stories that deserve care, collaboration, and reach. I’m not downscaling my vision to accommodate someone else’s limitations.
What struck me afterward wasn’t anger. It was clarity.
People grow apart. Sometimes their bitterness gets louder than their generosity. Sometimes your peace feels threatening to someone still in chaos. And sometimes, the hardest thing to accept is that someone you once rooted for no longer knows how to root for you.
So here’s what I’m taking with me — and maybe it’s helpful to someone else:
You don’t owe anyone access just because they were once in your life.
Success doesn’t always look like applause — sometimes it’s just peace and momentum.
If someone can’t meet you with curiosity, kindness, or even basic respect, that’s not feedback. That’s noise.
When someone is clearly toxic — no matter the history — walk away with your head held high.
And never confuse someone else’s small box of reality for the size of your dreams.
If you’ve had a moment like that recently — if you left a meeting feeling smaller instead of seen — you’re not alone. Keep going. The people who get it will find you. The ones who don’t… were never your audience anyway.
JT
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Great points, James Tuverson! I've been there. Better to find new doors sometimes. Thanks for sharing this with the community.
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Thanks, Maurice. I gotta say, this time around, I’m not looking for validation — I know what my work is worth. I’m not chasing industry approval. I’m building from a place of clarity, confidence, and creative truth. That changes everything.
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You're welcome, James Tuverson. That's great! It reminds me of writing what you want instead of chasing trends.
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Very true James Tuverson. I’m at that point in my life where as disappointing as it is that I don’t have a lot of old connections that could be very useful, I’m incredibly thankful that I know peace and can also make better connections now. Benefits of getting older, I suppose, maturity eventually catches up lol
I knew several people in my twenties who could potentially be good partners right now for me creatively but I’d be very hard-pressed to pursue that with them now (especially if they constantly second-guessed me and my skills). My philosophy now is that the best person for the job always wins and maybe I haven’t met them yet.
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Agree 100 percent!James Tuverson
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"...never confuse someone else’s small box of reality for the size of your dreams." -- That's a very beautiful sentence that sticks.
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Wow. What a profound read that resonate with me so much. Thanks for sharing.
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Not all feedback is on the page.
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James Tuverson JT, that was a generous and important share - thank you.