Sometimes You Can't Try to Play the Flute...

A long time ago when I was a child my Dad had an expression he loved using,as most Dads do I am sure. He used to say,"Sometimes you can't try to play the flute you just have to blow into it." This was usually in reference to his job as a civil servant which I don't think he found particularly fulfilling or fun. I thought it was a stupid saying when he I was younger and I never understood it really. Yesterday it popped into my head when we were debating whether or not to make a last minute entry in the Beyond the Still Contest. Watch our entry here and I will explain more
below.

Beyond the Still Chapter 2: See No Evil from Cristina Valdivieso + Jon Connor on Vimeo.

So here's what happened. We had a brilliant idea for the next chapter. It was going to be a masterpiece. We fly to Austin for a conference, Chicago for work and had a backlog that needed knocking out, so we basically procrastinated as many of us are guilty of. We had the perfect actor the perfect story with a perfect twist at the end. I blame myself for the next part but I thought the contest deadline was Feb. 15th and when I double checked earlier this week realized I was wrong and it was actually Feb. 11th. So we scrambled. Called friends. Found a new guy to play the main role. Then we got walloped with 20+ inches of snow. We gave up. "We'll get them next time," I told myself. Well, yesterday rolls around and it's about 3:00 p.m. the deadline is looming. We didn't want to enter the contest with less then our absolute best. We also don't like giving up. So at 5:30 p.m. we decided to do it. About half way through shooting we thought,
"We're never going to make the deadline, the film is going to be too short, let's scrap it." That's when I thought about what my Dad told me all those years ago,"Sometimes you can't try to play the flute. You just have to blow into it." So with some quick thinking we came up with an ending we were okay with. Is this the greatest film I have ever seen? No. Did we blow away the competition? No. Will we win this round? I have no clue. That's for the judges to decide and there's 100+ other entries from extremely talented filmmakers. If we did I would be shocked to say the least. However, by adopting my Dad's,"Sometimes You Can't Try to Play The Flute" theory
we accomplished something. We wrote,shot,edited,color graded, exported and uploaded our entry with 10 minutes left before the deadline. So even, if it isn't the greatest film the world has ever seen, at least we showed up. I have a feeling a big difference between those who succeed in life and those that don't is largely based on just showing up and doing it. I am not saying we should go through life doing things half-assed. I am merely trying to say sometimes we shouldn't quit so easy.So next time you find yourself making excuses for why you can't do something just remember "Sometimes You Can't Try to Play the Flute. You Just Have To Blow Into It."