Clint Eastwood @Ontakingcharge

Retired Actor Carmel-by-the Sea, California Joined April 2011

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Clint Eastwood @Ontakingcharge

a day ago

I Am Still Standing I came out of San Francisco fog,a tall, thin kid with an empty pocket and a jaw full of silence.Nobody handed me the sky,I squinted at it long enough until it blinked first.I was never the loudest man in any room I walked into.I let the quiet do the talking.Turns out, quiet carries further than a shout ever could.I played outlaws and lawmen,sometimes couldn't tell the difference maybe nobody can.I wore that poncho like a second skin,chewed that cigar down to nothing,and learned that the man who waits is usually the man who wins.Dirty Harry wasn't a character.He was the part of me that was tired of watching the world go sideways and saying nothing.Go ahead, I told the world. It never quite took me up on it. Now I look in the mirror and see my father's face looking back, patient as stone. The lines on this face each one is a story I didn't have to survive,but did. The body slows.I'll give it that.The knees negotiate now where they once just moved. The mornings take a little longer to convince me they're worth it,but they always do.I have buried friends.I have outlasted critics.I have watched trends rise like brush fires and burn themselves out.I am still here,drinking my coffee,reading my scripts,watching the oak trees on the Carmel hills do what oak trees do grow more themselves with every passing year.That's the thing about age nobody warns you about,you stop pretending.The mask gets heavy. You set it down one morning and forget to pick it back up.And what's left,that's the truest role you'll ever play.I am not afraid of the last scene. Every good film has one. You just make sure you've said what needed saying before the credits roll.I've lived ninety-something years on this spinning, stubborn rock.Loved some people deeply.Made some films I'm proud of.Said my piece.Stood my ground.And if the sun is lower now in my particular sky well,even the best sunsets take your breath away. So go ahead, Time. Make my day. I've made mine.