Aly Raisman and movie making
So you’re probably thinking Shari has post Olympics blues and is desperately attempting to hold on to thoughts of gymnasts bending all the laws of physics distracting her from her life and her obligations. True, but not the reason for this post.
Aly Raisman went back to the Olympics because she just missed getting an All-Around Individual medal four years ago. Actually, she tied for the bronze, but the Olympic rules do not allow for ties in gymnastics. So there it was practically in her hands and then boom it was gone when the tiebreaker news was announced. How many times has that happened to all artists and in particular filmmakers? Your film is almost going to be funded, you are going to be hired to direct that film and then oops…on and on it goes…
So what did Aly Raisman do? She took a well-deserved break and then she re-focused and spent two years working towards her goal. That’s two years of 25 to 30 hours of tedious workouts and I am sure times of physical pain. She let everything else fade away in her life so she could have a chance – a CHANCE – at achieving her goals. There were no guarantees that she would make it back to the team or that she would get to try to go for the all-around title or that quite frankly she would qualify for it in the qualifying round at the Olympics. Again and again she had to prove to herself and the judges that she was ready for the challenge and would succeed in the end. Each time she stepped up, she is quoted as saying “four routines to go,” “three routines to go,”…
The look on her face when she finished her final routine – when she knew she had achieved that goal after countless days of practices and meets – was priceless. It showed happiness, complete relief, pent up emotions…the list goes on.
This is what we all face as artists when we hear “the funds fell through” or “we were going to hire you but then this other person brings more to the table so…” or “yeah, you made that great film last year, but now….” – again the list goes on and on.
We have to endure. We have to persevere. We cannot let a tiebreaker rule stop us for going for that gold. So when you are tired, fed-up and just thinking “what is the point” – watch some gymnastics. If they can defy physics, why can’t you defy it too?