As a realtor we are faced with new situations all the time. A new area, a challenging personality, new software, an "unsurmountable" escrow problem. While it may seem impossible to deal with some of these challenges, I've come to know you have to just take it one step at a time and know you will figure it out as you go. I've learned to "Leap and the net will appear".
So how did I learn this?
I started dreaming when my youngest was a high school sophomore, about making a video for her class, and trying to capture some, a lot, most, nearly all... all 250 kids in her class. Criminy, how do I do that?
I just started videoing, not knowing how to do it, but believing I would figure it out. I knew how to point a camera, knew how to do basic editing (I had done 2 other water polo season videos), and knew how to make a cool DVD. But this was HUGE. I decided to take it one step at a time, and make progress, but not expect perfection.
I started showing up with my camera... water polo, football, baseball, hallways at lunch, rallies, homecoming hall decorating, interviews with the kids. It was so fun. For 3 years... a few probably thought I was stalking them.
Two months before graduation, I started editing. In between escrows, signings, showing homes, marketing, cleaning house, cooking, sleeping. Actually, my husband did all the cooking and cleaning so I could edit... edit....edit. Oops, not enough computer memory... buy more. Crud, what's with the sluggish playback... call help line. Why doesn't this transition work?... swear for two days and don't sleep. OOHHH... I figured it out. Wait, I forgot two seniors from softball... run to a game in the rain.
The night I processed the final version (it takes all night) it all appeared to crash. Help line to Sally.."You have an irreparable bug. You'll just have to start over." Sally to help line... "@%^*$#*$*(#&$*#... no freakin way!!!". 3 years of my life down the drain. But I wouldn't accept that. I looked at it from outside the box. I WILL figure it out. "Maybe this is it". Another night of processing. 3 am. I'm at the pute checking it. I play it back. IT WORKS!!!!! I do a little victory dance and scream in my head to the video gods.
My daughter softly calls to me from the dark. She is also awake, knowing what's at stake. I snuggle into her bed, dissolving into tears at the relief that the biggest technical endeavor of my life turned out. She holds me, our long legs wrapped around each others, entwined in such loving intimacy. We lay there until dawn, chatting... expounding on "going for it", marveling at technology, gossiping about kids in her class, talking about the future... about life. I knew it was a moment that would stay with me til my dying breath. So precious, so amazing, so in the moment. Her loving what I had done for her, and for all the kids of her class.
I went in to work that morning wrung out from crying and the tension release. On my chair was a hand-written note from my daughter...
"Momma... while it may at times seem like nobody appreciates the countless hours you've spent working on this video, what you have created for my class is something that will touch many kids.
"The impact you and Dad have had on the students at Del Campo is too great to measure. While it may seem that some of the sacrifices are in vain, remember the kids you two have been second parents to, the friends of ours that look to you for advice, those you have cared for. The girls Dad baked cookies for, bought Sierra Shootout T-shirts for, the girls he taught to have confidence. By sending out emails to organize homecoming halls you gave some kids the first homemade cookies they had had in years.
"In the same way, this video will give the students whose parents never owned a video camera the first glimpse of them playing a sport, or the only picture they have of their lunchtime group. This video will give the seniors something to look back on. And more importantly, proof that someone other than their parents cares and is willing to make sacrifices for them. I am so fortunate to be your daughter and a part of your life. I love you both."
More tears.
Grad night came around. Bowling, blackjack, video karaoke, sticker tattoos... a long night of fun. At 2 am the kids assembled for a movie, not knowing what to expect, most not wanting to take time out from their fun. The video rolled. Dead silence. More dead silence. Jaws agape. No movement. No blinking. Sweetness is background music to a section. "Whooo--oo-oo--ooo......" all in unison. They are mesmerized. Entranced. Stunned. For 59 minutes.
It was all worth it.
Two weeks later, I was in a gift shop. On the wall was a plaque... "Leap and the net will appear". That was it! That was what I had done! I had leap off the cliff, not knowing whether I could pull it off, but knowing that putting one edit in front of the next, one song choice laid down at a time, one transition before the next one was how to do it. Solve each problem as it came along. I believed I could do it as long as I made daily progress, even though it seemed impossible at times.
And the net did appear. I figured it all out.
Flickr photo by eidur k
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Check out my other posts that might be of interest.....
HOME BUYERS AND SELLERS..........Buying a Home, Selling a Home, Loans, What Happens if....
LOCAL INFO................................. Fair Oaks, Carmichael, Sacramento, Folsom, Citrus Heights
ABOUT SALLY DUNBAR.................. How I learned to...., Personal stuff, My Wordless Photos
OTHER STUFF............................... Inspiration, Attitude, Humorous Stuff, Charity, the Economy
TECHNOLOGY, BLOGGING ............. Active Rain, Technology
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