If You Want To Gain Perspective, You Need To Spend Time With Your Toddler
Have you ever been so caught up in something that’s gone wrong that you lose sight of the most important things that have gone right in your life? Wouldn’t it be amazing to have someone that could knock some sense into you when that happens?
Many years ago, I was part of a young filmmaking team that was working on getting a passion project off the ground. I believed so much in this film, that I planned my pregnancy to fit around our projected production schedule. Our team spent years writing, developing, and packaging this film to perfection, and I dedicated all my eggs into this one basket.
However, by the time my son was two and a half, we had faced many disappointing setbacks. It had become harder and harder for me to not let the anxiety and depression of it all seep into my personal life as my dream slipped away.
The night I received the rejection call from our Hail Mary, I climbed into the tub and sat under the running water and just cried. I felt lost, hopeless, and without purpose.
BUT somehow my little guy had managed to sneak into the tub behind me, as he often liked to do in those days. I was so wrapped up in my own misery that I didn’t even notice he was there until… I suddenly felt something weird on my back that snapped me out of my funk. I spun around to find my kid laughing as he was peeing on me! What the hell?!
My first instinct was to get mad at him because… well… how dare he interrupt my self-pity party! Didn’t he know that I had just lost the most important thing I had going for me? Instead, I found all I could do was laugh with him. As I stopped, cleared my head, and looked up into his smiling eyes, I had suddenly realized how naive I had been. He of course was the most important thing to me and somewhere along the way, I had lost perspective.
After that pretty gross yet hilarious life lesson, I learned that I can lose something I value dearly in this world without losing my whole world… which was and is my kiddo. Perspective can be a beautiful, and often sobering thing, don’t you think?
~Kath
—
Kathryn Michelle| Filmmaker
Almost Normal Productions
