Trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
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Today, I took the time to watch Andrew Kramer’s Keynote at After Effects World Becoming a Better Artist! The talk resonated strongly with me and my current situation, so even though I’m may not be the strongest writer at the moment, I decided this post needed to happen. Andrew has always been an immense inspiration and teacher to me, I even feel some of my humour is derived from watching his misdirection. Even though we’ve never met in person I know one day we will, very soon.
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When clicked, the Undo Guy yaps out phrases such as “Oh, no!”, “Yikes!” “Uh-oh!”, “Whoops!” I heard these sounds everyday whilst experimenting in my favourite drawing program “Kid Pix”. I would spend lots of time exploring the tools: spray paint, pencil and my favourite “explosion” (it would countdown from 3 to 1, shooting black and white circles from the centre). Grabbing at the computer mouse with a single rectangle button, sitting ridiculously close to the screen, arching my 10 year old neck up to the monstrous beige CRT monitor.
Unknowingly, my curiosity was building my love for creating imagery.
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Designing website graphics was not really classified as a hobby back in high school. I may not have played that much sport, except maybe being constantly fullback during my “most improved” soccer days (I think I got the hint after two years and quit) I remember my dad telling me, there was this better program called “Photoshop”, which he encouraged me to learn since everyone else in the industry used it. I refused.
If it weren’t for my dad pushing Photoshop so much,
I wouldn’t have the current tools in my arsenal.
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On my bed, hidden under the covers, my laptop laid sideways, I fed my tutorial video addiction. The video’s reflection danced on my focused eyes. I threw off the blanket, I gasped for air because it is ridiculous to be watching something for more than 30 seconds in the same air. I took a few more breaths and pulled the covers back over.
A sense of motivation and yearning to learn took over as for two straight weeks,
I watched nearly all of Andrew Kramer’s Video Copilot tutorials, building my skills in motion design, animation and 3D compositing.
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Sitting on the balcony, discussing dreams and direction with Matt, one of those mates who just gets it and always will. We both overlook Sydney, occasionally jumping back and forth between over-the-line jokes, life goals, grown up talk and sharing some amazing peanut butter chicken.
Sometimes in order to understand more about ourselves,
we need to understand more about others.
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Tapping and dragging my fingers on the mouse, my eyes darted left and right, trying to piece together a story from footage I had filmed earlier that day. Hunched over the table, my focus completely locked on the computer. Surrounded by random camera gear, a scrunched blazer and a pile of various drinks and juice, I pushed through in my little cubby-house-esque hideout which in reality was in a business conference room, editing a video to be shown the very next day, on the screen at a Shangri-La Hotel’s Sweet Street Festival.
The pressure of finishing something so fast, was incredibly stressful. This was the one of the first times my videos had played infront of that many people at once.
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In life we have those little bursts of ‘aha’ or endorphin filled epiphanies, but if our minds are moving too fast to actually appreciate or understand why we’re being shown, we miss our chance to learn or take action from them.
I haven’t quite connected the dots yet, but I feel in life there’s always a pattern, that there are stronger forces attracting and repelling in the universe.
I’m yet to find where the dots are leading, but I’m sure as hell going to find out.
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“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
― Steve Jobs
