The first week after I finished my DIY Iron(WO)man was emotional and exhausting, but not so much from the race, more for my attempt to report the whole story the following Tuesday here. I am equally proud of both feats of endurance, racing a DIY Iron(WO)man, and writing about it.
In our current environment of fleeting attention, I believe it is important to turn around stories and movies as quickly as possible. However, even though I had most of the footage from our friends and family who graciously gave up their Sunday to capture A LOT of it a few days after finishing the race, I needed to relax and breathe a bit before putting together a movie with an objective POV.
Color-grading practice.
Shooting and editing is my favorite medium to create. I see the world through camera set-ups, (wide, close-up, medium, pan, etc.) In essence, I am always editing in my head shaping the story I want to tell while shooting it, but I didn’t shoot any of this footage; it was incredible, but it took another beat to figure out how I wanted to line it all up. Also, this project presented the highest stakes to date. I wanted to get it right, right away, but that pressure, like most self-imposed stress, was paralyzing.
A poignant message from my favorite meditation teacher, Light Watkins.
Therefore, I decided last week regardless of my lack of confidence, I needed to have it finished and posted by TODAY, 12/8/2020. I couldn’t stand the thought of going beyond one month out from the event, would anyone still care? Fearful I had a tight window to hang on to my audience's fading attention, I tackled procrastination head on on Sunday morning, and finally started to edit.
Thankfully, I fell into a groove right away. Joy and fun, my usual editing companions, quickly bulldozed over my lingering stress and insecurity, and helped me realize the film didn’t need to be perfect, it just needed to tell the story I wanted to tell.
Also, I wrote one more piece, (my first paid writing gig), about my Why behind deciding to pursue “Taryn’s Journey From The Valley To The Sea” for Live Feisty Media. I think it lends a more rounded telling of what events lead up to making the decision to create and race my DIY Iron(WO)man, AND how committing to following through with it positively affected many other areas of my life. I really had fun writing it, so if you are intrigued, that article is available to READ HERE:
I think that will do it for this week. I need to log off and get outside.
My running legs are making a late 2020 comeback!!
In lieu of a song choice and video this week, here is another link, (if you missed the one above), to my favorite mini-movie to date. Enjoy.:)