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In the Fellowship of the Ring is a small poem informally titled, All that is gold does not glitter. The second line goes, "Not all those who wander are lost." I was young when I first read The Lord of the Rings, but somehow this portion of his made up poem had a lyrical quality to it that refused to be forgotten. Sure, J.R.R. Tolkien was talking about the band of wanderers fighting for the side of good, but it also reminded me of Carley Mostar.
I love Carley's name, by the way. It reads like a culture phenomenon in the making. Mo? Star? More star? Isn't that a name made for success?
Carley hung out with Ann and Karen in college while getting her B.A. in Sculpture at Washington University in St. Louis. She originally combined that with another degree track in PNP (Psychology, Neuroscience and Philosophy--heavyweight subjects!). Studio courses in her Sculpture track eventually forced her to concentrate just on the first.
Unlike Ann or Karen, she found that she wasn't the right fit. "I didn't like it--or fine art at all," says Carley. "I stayed because of the people around me." Post-graduation came a series of jobs that seemed as far away from what she studied. She found a job as Consulting Intern, then even a Marketing Assistant for a financial consulting firm.
She never stayed long in one position. Instead, she took on a somewhat Buddhist stance to the work she found. "I spent two years not staying at any job. Whenever I'd get tired of one thing, I let myself leave it. It reminded me that I can always find something else."
Just this February 2010, her life turned upside down (at least a little bit). Like many Americans, the recession hit her. The restaurant that always reliably filled the gaps between her small jobs went out of business. "It was like being back in New York City for the first time again," she says, "It made me want to find something that I wanted to do, instead of just something to try."
A Eureka moment led her to her path now--as an aspiring filmmaker, working to build her credentials in the industry. Her background in photography (a hobby), in campaign management and organization were the little pieces in the puzzle formed a career in filmmaking.
She now works closely with a documentary filmmaker, Matt Wolf, as well as lends her skills to others making small independent films. Carley admits she doesn't have the film knowledge most incoming NYU students would have, but she's working on it. "My discovery [of my career] was all informed by interior knowledge. This is the way I work, the pace I like to take, how bureaucratic I want it to be..." Little by little, she's adding to her body of knowledge--and by now, she already has a glimmer of a documentary in mind inspired by her brief escape to Turkey.
I am a firm believer that the present is made again and again by those who live it. Like many of us, Carley is on a journey, making her way one step at a time. Who knows, in the future, we might just see Mostar at Sundance, Tribeca or South by Southwest?
Photo credit: Carley Mostar
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