Learning on the Run
One of the best things about being a racing family is that we get to travel to cool new spots and bring the kids. The track isn't always the most exciting place for the younger ones. Our Ryann usually has to bring her bag of tricks to fill some of the time. She's become very independent as a result! Like me, Ryann likes to read and write so she always has a good book on hand, which makes me a happy mom. Her current favorite is a series called The Land of Stories.
I've never seen a kid cruise so quickly through big books like this. She reads in the car, on the plane, while we wait for anything, anytime she can. One of the first races we took the kids to was at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Ryann was seven and just starting to get into writing in her journal. As I sat and watched Derek, probably not realizing the intensity behind my actions, I glanced down and found her writing a letter to God about her Dad's racing in her journal.
What I didn't know then, that I know now, is the kids were going through their own set of anxieties, fears, and processing what it meant for their Dad to be out there speeding around the race track! Sometimes I look back at situations wishing I had the knowledge that I gained from them while I was in them. I'm sure this is true for all of us. Life is a journey of learning.
Ryann went on to have some anxiety about her Dad being in the car that we had to work through. This was the first indicator. I certainly thought it was cute, but didn't know just how much she was thinking about the dangers of him being in that car and the depth of her love for her Dad. She's always been very astute at observing and knowing just what is needed to bring peace in any given situation. This is a gift I hope to help her nuture as she goes through life. In turn, I must be aware of my own consciousness, a constant practice.
At the same time Ryann was learning about how to manage fear and anxiety, I was busy filming the concept for our show on this first big race weekend in 2015. This will be shown in episodes in the middle of Season 1.
As a result of taking a first step toward my dream, I had no idea the steep learning curve I would be on to know how to create a show that could succeed (we are very close...the distributor has our show packaged and is selling it now). I was thrust into learning on the go! I hired a fabulous team of two guys who helped shape the teaser for our first concept of Fastlife.
Scott Mislan, who I worked with years ago on an independent film, spent quite a bit of time with me on the phone offering advice and guidance as to how to put a legitimate shoot together. He ultimately came to film that weekend with me along with Scott Wolf. We basically split teams, used several cameras and my iphone to cover a shot list Scott created. He was better at visualizing ahead of time a concept and much more experience with being a field producer. I had to learn on the go and create as I went. Much of Fastlife, the current show, was created in the editing room because I visually could not see it until it was on the screen. I had to work through the concept as I slogged through hundreds of hours of footage.
Luckily I had a fairly serious surgery this past year, which allowed for a lot of sitting time and drive and file organization. Moving forward, I will organize as I go. I now have a system that works and make sense and if used will be a big time saver for Season 2.
Life is definitely an adventure. As I write about our experiences I realize just how much we have learned by getting out and doing what we love. I feel this is the key to happiness. If you sit too long and worry or wait for the perfect set of circumstances opportunities could be slipping by. One of my favorite books by Susan Jeffers is Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.
Do you want to live in fear or have fun? This is the question! #fearless #livemore #fastlifetv
I honestly don't think there is anything between those two! Leave us a comment about what dreams you are working on! How are you overcoming fear or anxiety! We want to know!
