When I first started blogging about a year and a half ago I thought my focus would be marketing for creative entrepreneurs. I figured I would share tips and ideas with you about how to grow your handmade business. It was never my intention to talk about my personal life, except maybe for the odd implementation example.
Lately with so many changes happening in my life, it has been cathartic to share what I am going through and learning. My hope is that my journey can help inspire you to keep going for your dreams no matter what gets in your way. It’s a tumultuous time for me, but I am determined to make the most out of it!
As I mentioned last week, I have decided to go forth and finish the Make It Happen documentary myself. Since it was project that Neil and I started together, it’s been very overwhelming to figure out how I am going to pull it off. Making a film that pays tribute to what it’s like to start and grow a business in the handmade world is something I’ve dreamed about for years. When Neil and I broke up, part of me thought the easiest thing would be to refund all the Indiegogo money and end the project. This way I wouldn’t have to worry about failing or making a crappy film that no one liked. It would have been safe.
But screw safe, right?! If I gave up then there would have always been a little voice inside my head that said “what if?” What if I didn’t fail and instead made an amazing documentary that inspires thousands of people to do what they love and follow their creative dream? What if watching Make It Happen encourages others that it’s ok to be scared and feel like you don’t know what the hell you are doing half the time?
The best way for me to move forward is action, so I decided to enrol in a documentary workshop at Pull Focus Film School on Tuesday. I was super nervous walking into the room because I thought everyone would be more experienced than me and actually know what they were doing. Luckily, there were only 2 other students who signed up for the workshop and the instructor was actually supposed to cancel it, but never did. This was awesome for us because it was like a private lesson!
It was amazingly helpful to learn all about story structure, plot development and how to create a mood. We also learned about how to use all the equipment. I am a very non techie person and video equipment used to scared me, but it was so cool to learn how to use a professional video camera and play around with all the different setting. After doing some filming, I realized I had been scared for nothing and that it’s not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.
After my documentary workshop I felt really motivated to keep pursuing my dream of making a kick ass film about the handmade community. It was also so encouraging to share my idea and have other people get excited about it. I learned that all the things that I thought were intimidating actually aren’t that bad. By educating myself I felt empowered and that although it’s not going to be an easy journey ahead…I can do it!
I am sharing my personal story because I want you to know that there are other people out there that are scared, worried and nervous that they’ll screw up and fail. But, by letting this fear win we are giving up on our dreams and the potential to make the world a more beautiful, creative and amazing place. It’s actually a good thing to feel scared because it means that you have BIG goals and ideas to share.
All you have to do is start taking action and the rest will fall into place. Click here to tweet 😉
Sparkly love,
Jenna