My daughter and I have been watching The Voice, in which mainly young people compete to be the world’s next musical star.

While it’s all very exciting, I spend most of my time fretting for the ones who are kicked off early. It seems like such a harsh industry. Not only do these singers face the same sort of rejection and isolation that other artists face, but their hopes are restricted to a short window of their lives. If they haven’t achieved success by 30 in the music scene, it seems much, much harder to do so.

The show is making me thankful that I felt compelled, as a teen, to pursue writing and not music. In writing, you have decades to find your voice and hone your craft. You can reinvent yourself with each book. In music, you have a few years to try for stardom, and it seems as if you’re allowed to reinvent yourself with a song, but only if you’re already famous.

Then again, maybe the thirty-something country star will win The Voice, and prove all my theories wrong. I sort of hope he does. And not just because of his leather jacket…