Creating 2015—Day 112:   Two Challenges

Rejection in the last 48 hours has pommeled me.  All I can say is, “Owwwwwwww!”  It hurts.  But, my skin is gaining thickness with every blow.  The pain lasted for less than a day with the first punch and the one I got today only hurt for about 10 minutes.  I am getting stronger!

In the past, certainly pre-Experiment in Prolific Creativity, I would have curled up in a ball and stayed there for at least a week, maybe a month, maybe longer, licking my wounds and crying like a little bitch—wallowing in my pain feeling powerless and like a victim.  It’s so tempting and easy to do.  But my new mantra is, bring it on!  Tim and I’s joke is we are Kevin Bacon in Animal House after each whack saying, “Thank you sir, may i have another?”  Every “NO” brings me one step closer to “YES” and getting my projects where I want them to go.  I may be bleeding and bruised by the time I reach my goals for my films but I will cross the finish line.

One wise thing I did yesterday was ring up my dear friend, the incredibly talented writer and producer Sylvia Jaunzarins, to see how she was doing.  I really needed to put the focus on someone else instead of me, me, poor me.  She and I have been meeting about our new projects at least once a month for a while now to hold each other accountable, motivate each other and encourage each other to keep going.

Of course, my most recent rejection sting came up during our conversation.  She was incredibly kind, generous, and positive and made me feel a shit ton better.  But she also threw down a challenge.  Actually, two challenges.  She challenged me to do one thing—small, big or in between—every day for my next film to move it forward to production.  What’s the easiest way to get over a broken heart?  Find a new lover.

Just like starting my Experiment in Prolific Creativity did for me in 2012.  It motivated me and pushed me to make huge strides in the edit for my documentary film and ultimately finish it.  These challenges have the potential to do the same for me during this next phase of finding distribution for Collusions and High School 9-1-1.  No matter what obstacles are thrown in my way, I need to stay motivated to stay the course—instead of crawling in a hole. She also challenged me to get back to sharing my process—the good, the bad, the ugly—in some way in my blog again like I did back in 2012 as a way to gain momentum and focus.

Challenges accepted!

Until tomorrow, create from what you have…creative challenges to take on.

Kelli Joan Bennett is a filmmaker, actress, writer, entrepreneur, advocate for creative thinking and Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Think Outside The Box Inside The Box Media.

Follow @KelliJBennett