Convergence

A View From the Beach - Day 6

Just checking in to give you all a quick update. We survived Hurricane Ida. Up above are pictures from our deck during the storm and after the storm. Big difference huh? We had the day off yesterday and relaxed most of the day. Last night we went to the Gran Maze and that was a lot of fun getting into teams and trying to find our way out if the maze.

Today were talking about the lies Satan tells us and how those lies play out in our stories. It's really interesting stuff that I'll have to go into more depth later on whe I have more time. As I said before - this stuff is intense, I can't wait to share it with you all!

The View From the Beach - Day 3

Yesterday’s lab was pretty amazing. We started out by listing our character traits and then listing which one of our character traits are in tension with one another. For example, I am a dreamer and I’m hopeful, but I’m also fearful and doubtful. I’m very goal-oriented but I’m also a procrastinator. Last night our assignment was to write down our top 10 desires. I didn’t expect that exercise to be that difficult or that painful for me but it was. It was painful because I realized that I have some desires that I may have given up hope for. Some desires I expected God to have met by now, and quite frankly the fact that he hasn’t leaves me to wonder if they’ll ever be met. Wondering if maybe I’ve done something to prevent them from being met. In the event of full disclosure, I’ll go ahead and share my desires with you all:

• • I want to get through this assignment without crying.
• • I want to be held.
• • I want to forget what’s it like to be held.
• • I want my relationship with God to be like it used to be.
• • I want to be a full-time filmmaker and a part-time teacher, instead of the other way around.
• • I want $1 million to make my film Something Worth Waiting For.
• • I want to travel around with my film SWWF and talk REAL TALK with women about the joys and pains of singleness
• • I want to bring my students with me on a shoot.
• • I want be a better aunt.
• • I want to stop teaching COM 1109.

From there, we took our character traits and then took our top 5 desires and created a story idea based around our character tensions and our desires. It was a really cool exercise because on a practical level, I came away with 5 new script ideas which were kinda cool and had some pretty good character dimension. But what the exercise also helped me do was to just take a look at my innermost yearnings and deal with those. I think deep down inside I often doubt this whole filmmaking thing. Like I doubt that I have what it takes, I doubt that God’ll really do it...

But this exercise helped me to see that this filmmaking thing is something that is burned inside of me. It’s something bigger than me. While we were waiting for one of the sessions to start, this lady turned to me and said that she feels like there is this power, this fighter inside of me that needs to get out. She kept saying that people need what I have…and she’s not the first person to tell me those SAME EXACT WORDS…I do believe that I have a voice. And I believe that it’s nothing but the enemy trying to suppress that and make me doubt…

Lord, re-ignite that fire within me to create, to fight, to dream again…

The View From the Beach - Day 2

Well, yesterday was my first day at the Art Within Lab and I must say my world is being wrecked already. As a matter of fact, the wreckage already began on my way down here in the car. I'm already being challenged to rethink things pertaining to my writing and even pertaining to my career...

I'm telling you, this lab is pretty intense...in the sense that we're pretty much going all day long. But the time goes by so fast! Needless to say, so far I'm getting some interesting insight about my writing and even about my career path in general. Last night we did an exercise where we had to share clips from films that moved us to action, moved us to anger, and moved us to say "amen". My three movies (in order) were Do the Right Thing, Revolutionary Road, and Pursuit of Happyness. Then we had to look at each other's films and find the common threads. Here were some of my threads...

• All of the movies I chose were character-driven
• There was an urgency hope in all of the movies I chose -- in some an expected hope that was deferred, in others a hope achieved
• In each film I chose there was some form of societal pressure that was preventing the characters from having freedom.
• There was a constant theme of family.
• There were constant themes of freedom vs. trapped and honesty vs. idealism
• The scenes I chose were very complicated; they were difficult subjects to talk about
• there was a lot of passion in the films and in the issues they dealt with

Im not sure if you've seen the movies I referenced above but these threads that my peers pointed out really meant a lot of me in terms of trying to understand my voice as a filmmaker. I think a lot of what they said was on target, and I'm trying to process what that means and what that looks like for my art.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of these 2 weeks to try and flesh that out. I will keep you posted...

In the meantime, we are in the midst of a hurricane warning here. Yes, Hurricane Ida is scheduled to strike mid-afternoon. So far right now we're getting a lot of wind and that's about it. The waves don't look too high. We haven't talked about leaving yet, the news said it should be a Category 1 storm by the time it hits here so we'll see what happens. It's just now starting to rain now as I type this...Going to get breakfast now, I'll keep you all posted on what happens!

I told ya'll I'm back, so I hope your ready for all my blogs!! Hehe!

Well today I'm pretty amped. Today will be my last day at work for the next two weeks while I'll be writing, creating, thinking and learning beachside at the Art Within Screenwriting Lab. Things kick off tonight as I'm going with my friend Laura to see Mute Math! I'm really excited about this because I've been wanting to see MM in concert for some time now. I first heard of Mute Math at none other than Buckhead Church. We did a cover of "Typical" for one of our opening songs and I loved it so much that I went home and downloaded it and the whole album! It's been on repeat ever since. I've heard that they give a very LIVE live show so I'm looking forward to their shenanigans. But if this video is any indication of what the show is going to be like, it's gonna be a wild, fun night!

Either I'm Old or I Need to Move to Ohio

So, I decided to enter the dating world again. Yep, yep, yep. Don't ask me why I thought this would be a good time to do this. Working 3 jobs doesn't exactly leave me a lot of time to socialize these days except via the internet--which is why I thought maybe it'd be a good idea to start online dating again. I started out with eHarmony. That's supposed to be the site where all the good Christians go, right? Well, after a 3 month membership the hits started to get sporadic, and most of the men they kept trying to match me up with lived far away or they were over 50 (what are you trying to tell me, eHarmony?) or they had too many pictures posing in their Sunday suit. I just can't.

So...

I canceled that membership and joined Match.com. I've had moderate success with Match in the past, I figured maybe I could find a couple of good dates...not necessarily  a love connection, but at least a fun night on the town...Well, ironically, once I canceled my eHarmony membership and joined Match, eHarmony started sending me all these guys my age, in Atlanta, and who sounded interesting. Thanks eHarmony! Right on time! So here I am stuck with this brand new Match membership and I haven't gotten hardly any hits at all! Maybe it's because I indicated on my profile that I actually like God. You know the whole God thing makes some people get all weird. Maybe I should've just posed in a Sunday suit for all my profile pictures. And all the men that do contact me are pushing 50 (again, what are you trying to tell me, Match???)

So I decided to do my own search and put in the qualities I'm looking for and all the matches came up in Ohio! Who knew?? Ladies, we obviously need to pack it up and head out there 'cuz that's where all the eligible bachelors are.

Add to this I had a dream last night that I was dating some nice specimen of a man...this man was light skinned and had curly hair, which is quite different from the nice, dark-skinned chocolate drops I've dated in the past. Light skinned, 50, Ohio...So maybe God is trying to tell me something here...Maybe what I'm looking for is in the packages I least expect...

Or, maybe I just need to forget the whole thing and get back to work... smh

Back in the Saddle Again

So I’m thinking it's time start blogging again. Not so much because you need to know what’s going on in my life (although that’s nice) but because I’m realizing how much blogging had become a respite for me. It had become a place for me to “keep it real”, as they see, and deal with how I was really feeling about some things. What was always cool about blogging was that there were many times where I would write something and then struggle with whether or not to post it for fear of offending someone or fear of people thinking I was strange or stupid. But oddly, enough, whenever I went about and posted it, it’d never fail that I would have people respond and tell me that they could relate in some way.

 

That kind of help and support can be very therapeutic. Especially for an introvert like me. It’s nice to know that other people share your thoughts, your hopes, your fears. It’s nice to know that other people don’t have solutions for things. And its nice to know that I have a place to vent when I need it. It’s also just nice to flex my writing muscles on a more consistent basis.

 

So I’m coming back, Convergence. For starters, I wanted to let you know that starting this coming Saturday, I’ll be attending the Art Within Lab in Seagrove, FL! Those of you who have been following Convergence for awhile may remember that I applied to Art Within about a year ago and didn’t get in and was pretty disappointed. Well, lo and behold I got an email a couple of weeks ago from one of the organizers and he invited me to join them for this years round. I was EXCITED to say the least!! So the next couple of days I’ll be packing and preparing for my trip. I can’t wait to keep you all posted on what happens once I get down there!

 

So stay tuned, Convergence! I’m baaaacccckkk!!!!

 

 

All Up In My Stuff

Do you have people in your life who don't have a problem getting all up in your stuff? I'm not talking about nosey people. I'm talking about people who know your business and don't have a problem telling you when you're off track.

A few weeks ago I met with Paula (mentor, Producer of Faithfully Divided). It started out as an editor's meeting for her to let me know what changes she wanted me to make to her documentary. But it ended up with her basically "reading" me and reminding me of who I am. She reminded me that I am not mediocre and that I still have stories inside of me to tell. "What's your A story and what's your B story," she asked, making reference to the rules of screenwriting but applying it to my life. "For some reason you've gotten comfortable and you've settled for less than your A story." It was a powerful talking to that I really needed.

There's so much going on in my life right now, which is why I haven't had the time to blog lately. I'm teaching full-time at AIU, part-time at Kennesaw State, I'm in the process of getting ready to make a trailer for my film, Something Worth Waiting For, in about 2 weeks, I'm doing more edits on Faithfully Divided and I'm serving and helping out with a new church plant, Blueprint Church, in downtown Atlanta. I'm really excited about all of these things except one...

This past Tuesday my friend Donna, who used to be in my small group and now lives in North Carolina came down for a visit and we decided to grab breakfast. Donna is one of 9 women who constantly heard me lift up so many prayer requests to change jobs, that I started to sound like the boy who cried wolf. But this time as I told her about all the things that are going on in my life right now she said to me, "Everything sounds so great and exciting except that one fly in the ointment...."

I know what the fly in the ointment is. I think both of these wise women are confirming in so many words that the winds of change are blowing in my life. I've got to figure out how to bring the "A" story of my life, which is filmmaking, back to the forefront. And in order to do that I think I'm going to have to let that one fly go...one way or another...

In the Thick of It All

Hello Convergence Readers!

I know I've been pretty quiet over here lately. To say that things have been busy is a vast understatement. I finally found out that I will keep my job, but ever since I got that news, it's been a whirlwind at work. Between training sessions and trying to move from one building to another, I've spent more time at that place in the past week than I care to recount. But its all good. Hopefully all the chaos will be over soon.

But the main reason why I haven't been keeping up with Convergence is that we're really in the thick of getting the word out about my film "Something Worth Waiting For." If you haven't been to the site yet, make sure you pay us a visit! Great discussions and great fundraising are in full swing over there! So since it's hard for me to upkeep two blogs, my updates here on Convergence might be few and far between for a little while. But keep checking back, you never know when I'll have some kind of personal rant that I only want my readers to know about. ;-) Please bear with me, but in the meantime, don't forget to visit Something Worth Waiting For!

Online Dating Advice For the Brethren

Clarissa Rodney, the lead character in my upcoming film "Something Worth Waiting For" just posted some fun tips for online dating for those brothers in Christ who might be trying to find that special someone in cyberspace. See what she has to say here.

Also, don't forget we're still looking for your help with the making of the trailer for the movie. Whatever you can give would be greatly appreciated--whether its $10, $25, $50 or $100! Consider making a donation today by clicking here. Thank you for your support!

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