In life, as in film, there are an amazing number of things that all must come to bear, together, to create success of any kind. Three of those things inhabit this series. First up? Persistence.
Yes, it’s possible to get what I want without doing a darned thing. Just sit around, thinking about nothing, doing nothing. A knock on the door, and there’s the guy with just that exact thing I need/want/crave! Possible? Yes. But not bloody likely.
Like this post. I really would, right at this moment, rather be asleep. It was a long and fulfilling week, with a killer weekend right behind it. And now I’m up too early because I have a schedule to keep. And part of that schedule is writing this post. Fortunately, it’s fairly quiet, even here in the big city, and I have a kitty on my lap to keep me warm. There are perks, after all. 
For much of my life, I followed passions consistently, but serially. I’d have one idea, follow it with commitment and verve, and then realize that I was wrong; this wasn’t the thing which I’d be spending the rest of my life doing. And so I’d move on to the next thing, trying to find that task/way of being/set of experiences that would mean, “I have found IT.”
And I went through a bundle. Poetry, social justice politics, acting, and many more. Okay, I was never a religious evangelist. Or a career criminal. Or sought public office. Not because those aren’t necessarily worthy pursuits, but because I never found any passion in those directions (thankfully, for me). And when I pursued something and then found out it wasn’t what I was meant to be doing, I moved on to the next thing.
And so, I came back to film. Been makin’ ‘em since I was a kid, and now I see how amazing a path it is for me. I must make art – and what other art form allows you to write, direct, perform, create stunning visuals and sound, and physically build things? And I get to go places, meet cool people and shoot amazing stuff? None that I know of.
I’m 40, and I feel as if I’ve finally found “IT.” Only time will tell, of course…time and persistence.
What is “IT” for you?
Shake the foolish tree,
Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!
Click here for Part 2 of this 3 Part Series – “Perspective.”
Click here for Part 3 of this 3 Part Series – “Passion.”
Dude. I think ‘it’ is realizing, finally after so many years, that ‘it’ is not just one thing. Western culture emphasizes intense specialization…. committing fully to it, so as to enhance/utilize capitalism… meanwhile, there are so many other ways to live… so many causes, people, communities in this culture go underserved and undernoticed… finding ways to weave these causes and communities together through what we do, that to me feels right. The culture does not encourage it, as we need the $$ to get by. It’s an interesting conundrum to be living amidst… I am glad you found a ‘genre’ that includes so many of your passions! Because knowing you, you DO need to be doing them all, to deny all those facets would be a disservice to you, and to everyone else…. go go go go go!
Thanks, m’dear! Yup, I absolutely get it. That weaving is really, really important. In fact, I was thinking the other day that – have you heard about the studies that are showing that multi-tasking isn’t really good for productivity, and may not be good for your brain either? Well, I’ve got all these cool, different things to do – how do I do ‘em without fryin’ myself? The workaround that works so far, for me, is view them all as a single (or a few) project(s). That helps me feel the build of tasks, you know?