George Eliot by François D'Albert Durade, 1850 © National Portrait Gallery, London

“It's never too late to be what you might have been” has been ascribed to various people but it’s generally agreed that the first was 19th century novelist George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans, author of The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch. No surprise that I haven’t read either (or any of her others) but Julian Barnes is a great fan of Eliot, I’ve read all of his novels, so that’s a good enough recommendation for me.

Eliot refers to the latent ambitions and aspirations which many, if not all, of us have, and suggests that age or past experience should not be a barrier to their fulfilment. The late - and much missed - Ian Dury touched on this theme too on his 1978 single What a Waste.

I could be a lawyer with stratagems and ruses
I could be a doctor with poultices and bruises
I could be a writer with a growing reputation
I could be the ticket man at Fulham Broadway Station

For most of us though, discovering what we want to do in life is a significant part of the problem. Evans knew she wanted to write and wrote. Dury wanted to make music and made music. So, for them it really was never too late to be what they might have been, because they already were.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school and chose a career in accounting because that’s what my sister had done. As I’ve said before, no regrets: accounting has served me well and continues to do so.

But in the last few months I’ve started writing and performing poetry. And in the process discovered a whole world out there beyond the balance sheet. Beyond the Balance Sheet might be a good name for my first anthology, although that’s a while off.

Whatever stage in life you’re at, it’s never too late.

Beyond the Balance Sheet

Searching for the Truth in Art