Tag: asking

You Decide.

It is the thinking that gives you pause. Absolutely. it is the same for everybody, everything begins in the brain; the mind. Without getting too spiritual, it is absolutely true that you are what you think. Perception of life, how things impact you, your reaction to them and thoughts about them all shape the direction and quality of your life.

We are all well read or moderately well read people, media savvy, watching things that are more engaging than people falling over and animals doing strange thing on YouTube. We watch TedTalks, all the how to vids, garner different points of view.

A popular video/film that has gained a following and much interest has been The Secret. If you have not seen Rhona Byrne’s documentary film from her book of the same title, it is the secret to fulfilling one’s life. Hmm. Now, I am as sceptical as the next person, after all the world is full of people trying to sell…crap. Whether it is a crappy product or a crappy idea, there are those who will happily exercise nefarious practices to make a buck, even at the expense of others.

Okay, you say, what has any of this got to do with The Secret? The Secret puts forward the notion that you can achieve or accomplish whatever you want if you think about it. What?! Sounds like utter nonsense. It says that you attract what you think about on a consistent basis. But I think about winning the lottery! Not happened. So far from a lottery win. That is a common thought; the stuff that you believe you think about, that never happen. So what is going wrong?

Thinking and dreaming are not the same. Dreams are a necessity, creating a reason, purpose, to do jobs or things that are not what you wanted to do, in the hope that you create or obtain your dream. Thinking is different, cognitive. It is the decision making process. What have you decided to do? Which path did you decide to take? It is what you do to achieve your dream. Or it should be. Most spend their time pursuing stuff, finance, covering the bills, paying a mortgage, building a nest egg, saving for the rainy day. All very laudable things. Are they the stuff of dreams? Did you dream of these things as a child, growing up to pay a mortgage or saving up for retirement?

What if…just listen a minute, what if you decided, really decided, to think about your life differently. Whoa! Think differently? Like how? Who do I listen to? How about yourself. Of course information is good for critical thinking, decision making. But it still needs to be filtered; absorb the useful and disregard the pointless.

With so much information and the human ability to be lazy and take the easiest route, it is expedient to accept the first thing you are told. After all, it is human nature to believe first and question second. We hope that our fellow man is not trying to mislead us, wanting to believe that whatever they might tell us is because they want to help. As much as life tells us otherwise, we intrinsically want to believe that others are generally good.

People are good, or at least they believe they are. In their own mind, it is rare the person who thinks they are evil, a bad person. This is not a consistent thought for anybody of a healthy mind, regardless of the proof of their actions. If they have friends, people they care about, they must believe themselves to be acceptable human beings. It is the information they gain, the reaction to incidents, events or happenings in their lives that impact their thinking. This creates the person, the information and how their interpret it.

We are not what we think. We are what we decide to think.

A bit of a trickle…..

So the campaign is up and running (check it out here) and the initial enthusiasm has faltered. Not for the project, that remains as resolute as ever, but for the whole crowdfunding kerfuffle. I want to make films. I like making films; the writing, the casting, pulling the crew together, directing actors, working out scenes, this is what I want to do. What I don’t like is asking people for money. I am not even that comfortable asking people for money when it is for a service I am providing! So crowdfunding and its concept is way outside of my comfort zone. Unfortunately, though I may know a few people who are quite well off, none of them are relatives or people with whom I am comfortable enough to ask for an indefinite loan. Hence the crowdfunding. Back to the enthusiasm.
Putting together a crowdfunding campaign is not as painful as I am making it sound. Truth is, it involves many of the elements of filmmaking and in itself is quite enjoyable. The aspect that is not enjoyable is the launch. In the run up to creating and launching your campaign, the support for it will be overwhelming; that’s a good idea, yeah you should try that, you should absolutely do it! All very positive. Once the campaign is launched however….crickets. Even getting people to endorse your campaign becomes a battle. You see, launching the campaign is the easy bit. Maintaining the momentum – even if it is only in your own head – is the work. In effect – especially with film – you are selling a product that 1.) is unlikely to result in a financial return and 2.) not even made yet. You are asking people to take a leap of faith and back your enthusiasm, vision, apparent talent, in the hope that they will get a feelgood at the end of the process. It is a big ask.
Of course, before the launch, I believed, hoped, there would be an absolute stampede to my page. Do not ask me what I am basing this notion on. It is not as though I get thousands of hits on my FB pages, blogs or twitter feed! Still, one always hopes and expects. I must admit, it has taken the breeze out of my sails a little. The Brit in me remains firmly against bothering people and promoting myself. Foolish I know, after all there are a billion talented individuals on the inter-web, fighting for their fifteen minutes, who like myself, mistakenly believe that having a modicum of talent will get you noticed by the ‘right’ people. What the practical, pragmatic, world wise side of my brain is telling me is that I have to keep pushing on. Moving forward, being a bit of a nuisance and fighting for attention. After all who else is going to do for me?