A 3D LIFE

MANILA, Philippines - Consider the case of Clint Eastwood.

In the early ’50s, the former army man-turned- lifeguard was spotted by a particularly enterprising assistant and made an actor. While most actors broke out in their 20s, he was 34 when he became the “Man with No Name,” and finally a bona fide Hollywood star. But he didn’t stop there.

At 40, he reinvented himself yet again, this time as a director for the film Play Misty for Me. At 41, he made a play for eternity — cementing his status as an icon in Dirty Harry. At 56, he got into politics and served as Carmel-by-the-Sea, California’s non-partisan mayor for two years. And at 62, while his peers were getting ready for retirement, Clint, who had never won an Oscar at the time, went to the Academy Awards and promptly picked up four for his film Unforgiven. Eighteen years after that, he’s still at it — cranking out Oscar contender after Oscar contender.

Soldier, lifeguard, actor, director, composer, producer, mayor, husband, father.

How many lives can one man live in a lifetime? It’s a three-dimensional life, multi-dimensional even, and it’s all about living life to the fullest and going for your goals.

One can only wish that, at 80, he’d have done as much as Clint has. And that might be the point. Clint has done so much because he’s never said never. While we think about learning how to paint or taking up a new instrument, he’s already picked up that guitar or paintbrush. While we’re meticulously enumerating the things we now can’t do because we’re “too old,” he’s gone ahead and done it. Clint tells us that we’re never too old to make our dreams happen; that we’re never too old to live the life we want. As canonized by GQ last December, Clint is the patron saint of late bloomers.

Maybe it’s only at 80 years old when things start feeling urgent, but it’s something we can learn from Clint. He’s living life to the fullest, directing his dream story, working with his dream team, and even making time to spend time with family.

This urgency hits particularly close to home nowadays. In the last week of 2009, right before we finally said goodbye to that blasted year, Brittany Murphy dropped dead in her shower. Brittany, a promising character actress who charmed audiences with her goldfish eyes and magnanimous smile, was only 32. She might not have been at the top of her game fame-wise, but she was always a magnetic screen presence. Dying at 32 only leaves us with promises of a screen comeback in her later years, maybe even an Oscar nod ala Mickey Rourke.

And this is when things start getting brutal. Within the month, Casey Johnson, the troubled Johnson & Johnson socialite, was found dead in her bedroom. She was only 30.

The thing is, I’ve never really encountered the name “Casey Johnson” before her death. Her name was probably lost in the haze of LiLo taunts and MS Paint doodles while perusing Perez Hilton. What gets to me is she was just 30. Three decades. That’s 11 years out of your teens and a decade or so before you think of Botox. Yes, she had problems, but I always assumed that we got a couple of chances before luck ran out on us. Three strikes and then out, right?

In the aftermath of another natural calamity wreaking havoc on human existence, life has never been more uncertain. There’s never been a better time to go for your goals and live life to the fullest. Life expectancy is supposed to be till the late 60s and early 70s. Right now, it’s looking like the early 30s.

It’s a scary thought. We keep putting things off, always thinking there’ll be time to do what we want later. It’s sobering to realize a typhoon can just swoop in and take lives away. It’s sobering to realize an earthquake can just hit your country and leave you with 53 new orphans.

So what do we do? We rally.

After her death, it was reported that Brittany was working on an album. She had always wanted to get into music, and as Faster Kill Pussycat proved, she would’ve made a pretty good pop star. But she never went for this. She kept waiting for the right moment and then it was too late. Who knows what would’ve happened if she had followed her dreams and pursued singing?

You only have to look at the king of 3D himself, James Cameron. Instead of just directing, he revolutionized modern moviemaking with his new film Avatar. On top of that, as evident during his Golden Globe speech, he’s also a family man. James tells us to push ourselves, go for more, and pursue our goals.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. It’s time we took control of our lives, tick tock be damned.