When a Storm is Brewing
Sometimes in life, we hit a road bump on our seemingly smooth course. Here are some ways to not blow a tire or get stuck ;)
Picture this: You have an idyllic meadow with fabulous blue skies. You see a big ‘ole tree to sit under that is picture-perfect for setting out a blanket and reading a book... and for shooting a music video.
The weather in Nashville drastically changes and is somewhat fickle: One day it’s sunny and the next there are storm clouds chasing you down. For us Californians, we expect sun from May to July but in Tennessee, it’s a whole different ball game.
Why am I talking about the weather? Well, because when you go to shoot an outdoor music video, the weather is everything. You see, I had everything so nicely scheduled out for the music video for my first single release, “Nashville.” I worked to align hair and makeup with my videographer’s schedule, which is all essential elements when you are trying to look at the part. For someone who doesn’t yet have the budget to hire these functions outright and keep them employed, these folks have schedules that they need to stick to as well. Hence, a lot of planning and coordinating...and then don’t forget the fair city of Nashville, which is sometimes, I should say, crowded ;) So as you can imagine, I did my best to align these planes to land at the same time: videography, hair, makeup, city distractions, my own schedule, etc. So, what happens when God decides to turn the waterworks on and your picturesque day is now going to be full of cloudy and rainy weather...well let me tell you :0)
When the unexpected heads your way:
Take a Breath: First and foremost you have to come back to center, and I mean to come back, please. Often our mind wants to wander to the worst-case scenario: the sky is literally falling, things won’t get scheduled, my video will never get finished, it will rain every day, etc, etc. These are things that I told myself and they are not based on reality. When you breathe, calm yourself, take a seat, you can reflect and assess, which brings me to my next point.
Point of Prioritization: After I collected my thoughts and started living in reality and not the wild imagination of my mind, I was able to center and start planning: What is the greatest point of priority? In this scenario, it was literally trying to reduce the chances of inclement weather. I would have to work around Mother Nature, but first I had to figure out what Mother Nature’s schedule was going to look like for the foreseeable future.
Accessing My Options: After targeting my highest priorities, I spoke with my videographer and we talked through the weather patterns of Nashville and tried to center on another time that could work. However, given that Nashville only gets wetter and wetter as the summer season goes on, this was not going to be an option. So we looked closer to try and focus on a few dates that would work, and we found a few with a smaller percentage chance of rain. We honed in on another block of days not too far out from our original plan.
Magic Tricks: And now to the fun part! Work your magic to coordinate schedules and try your best to piece back together with your original plan. In terms of prioritization, I had to make sure my videographer was available for those sunnier days, and he was. Check. Second, I had to align with my hairstylist, she would be available the day before but not the day of. Okay, so I needed an alternate plan (I’ll address that in point 5). For makeup, she was out entirely for that block of time...another plan to pivot.
Acceptance: Sometimes you are not always going to get what you want and that’s the reality of life. Did I want a picture-perfect video with stylized hair and makeup? Yep. Am I going to get it? Nope. And that’s okay. I’m going to work with the next best alternative. My hairstylist ended up doing my hair the night before and showed me how to touch it up myself. Fabulous. And Il did the same for makeup. Luckily, I’ve been doing my own makeup for the past 25 years, and being an artist myself, it didn’t look half bad and would do. I would rather have a sunny day than look like a drowned rat with beautiful hair and makeup—not a good look. The faster we can come to terms and just accept that our picture-perfect moment does not actually need to be picture perfect the happier we will be :)
Sometimes you just have to let go of control and find peace in acceptance, pivot, and move on. Who knows, that super sunny day that I had planned for that turned to gray may not have been the day that I was needed to be on set. Perhaps I was meant to be in another space that day instead. We will never know, and that is the beauty of life. Watch the final music video to see how it all came together.