Women aren’t supposed to get angry.
We’re told it’s unattractive, we’re called names for it, and we’re often shunned as a result of showing emotions.
It’s one of the reasons I’m very careful – especially as a leader, director, and woman in a male-dominated field – about guarding my emotions.
It makes me process emotions very logically, which is ironic because emotions often lack any logic. And, yes, that method of mine has caused arguments among loved ones who do process their emotions rapidly, often sharing them while they’re still raw. I tend to need to make sense of what I’m feeling before I vocalize it, which is a mostly self-preservation / peacekeeping thing.
What’s this got to do with filmmaking?
Well, sometimes you’ve gotta get mad.
Getting mad – especially while making your dreams come true – is a really powerful thing. It’s a fantastic motivator.
There’s a lot about filmmaking that can make you mad. Logistics fail, people may disappoint you, communication falls apart, and weather or equipment won’t cooperate. I mean, really, there’s a much longer list of the ways poop can hit the fan, but for the sake of brevity we can stop there.
Although I’m a “go with the flow” kinda girl most of the time, there’s a threshold for me. I’ll hit my limit every now and then. And since I don’t often get mad, when I actually do get angry it’s pretty powerful stuff. The furry of this woman on fire is a force to be reckoned with, I’ll tell ya what.
Again, getting mad is really powerful stuff.
When I do get mad, I get going. I start to move mountains with that anger. I take really brave, bold steps. I stubbornly move with confidence in the direction of my dreams, bending the world towards my will. (OK, that last one’s a slight exaggeration. Give it time, haha.)
My high school cross country coach knew the power of my anger. One day he deliberately put me at the back of the pack during practice, a sign that meant that I was one of the slowest runners. Dude, you have no idea how much that made me mad. And, yes, I ran so fast that I blew the doors off of everyone else in the pack that day.
My point? Use your anger to keep going, especially if you’re on the path less chosen (aka: making your dreams come true). Let your anger, whenever it crops up, be a force of good in your life to accomplish the things you’ve always wanted to accomplish.
Go on, get mad.
Then get back to work.