“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Every child remembers being asked this question. Whether it be the classic response- “fireman”, or what my little brother said in 1st grade- “marry someone rich”, we all had our dreams. But do we actually live our dreams? I do.
I’m proud to say that I’m doing what I love. I love making films. I love creating animations that delight. I love creating my own SaaS product- Tap Keep (it’s not yet released).
Basically, I love being a freelancer/entrepreneur where I get to create things every day. I emphasized “create” because creating things is one of the most fulfilling feelings for me. There is something special about making something that does not yet exist in the world.
I don’t know why I love the process of transforming an idea to a reality, but I do. It’s just something that is innately a part of me- as evidenced by my many experiences in creating things (and failing to create them).
As a kid I was constantly trying to invent some new way to get cool camera shots for my short films. I tried making a handmade camera stabilizer out of PVC pipe. It had a “gimbal” that was made of rubber bands and used random metal I found as counter weights. I wish I had pictures of it, but it failed so miserably that I never really used it.
This pretty much sums up my experience with my camera projects.
Instead of giving up after the failure of my PVC camera stabilizer, I worked on my next project- a camera dolly. This one had a wood platform with four tires that could be used “in any terrain”. It turns out that just because the wheels can be used on any surface, doesn’t mean they should be. The dolly made shaky footage and was a pain to transport. Another failure.
The final failed product of my homemade camera dolly. Featuring a friend pulling it along with a rope…
At this point, I think any normal teen would have given up. But I was on a mission. So I created another device to hold a camera. This one was simple to make, but again pretty useless. I used it once.
One of my camera mounts. The camera goes on the platform. It is supposed to make it easier to grip.
Another one of my camera mounts. This one was used to get low angle shots.
These many failures as a high school student didn’t stop me from creating. In fact, by the time I graduated high school, I had created 60+ short films, several websites, and a ton of other media projects. I have learned so much from my past successes and failures. The biggest thing they have taught me is to simply continue. Continue doing what I love. Continue creating.
Fast forward to today. I’m working as a freelancer/entrepreneur and I get to create every day. Everything from short promotional videos, animations, and websites to fun random things like podcasts and mobile apps.
Speaking of my podcast- My lovely wife and I created “One Part Laugh, One Part Life”. We talk about some of life’s most interesting topics…and laugh at our own jokes. You should check it out. We also created an ottoman together just for the fun of it. Sorry for the random train of thought
I have also recently worked on creating custom LED panels for my video work (a blog about them is coming soon). They use LED strips, wood, and a computer power supply to make extremely powerful lights.
The four frames for my upcoming LED panels project
Anyway, sorry for the rambling. All these creating experiences in my life have led me to have a thirst for more. I’m like an addicted meth addict. Except I’m addicted to the process of creating and not drugs. I will keep coming back to creating regardless of whether I fail or not. To me, this tenacious attitude is one of the best indicators that I’m doing what I love.
And so I will continue. Continue to create, sometimes failing, and sometimes succeeding.The only guarantee is that regardless of the outcome, I will always love what I do.
I love the feeling of creating something.