Action

The fear of who to become creeps up on us long before we can even decide who we are in the moment. "Who do you want to be when you grow up?" seems to be the question we're bombarded with since youth when we really should be asking "Who are you right now?" just as often. Thinking about the latter brings a few words that I describe myself as to my head; creative, blunt, driven, happy. I knew I wanted to direct and act in movies many years ago, and those words that I just rattled off are the character traits that get me there. Last semester, I wrote directed a short film at Pace University called "White Flag". It was inspired from a poem that I wrote while on the train home to Long Island. It was the first time the set that I worked on was my own, and although there were many obstacles, I felt at home. I remember after the first shot was set up and we were ready to roll, each of us called out our respective directions. "Roll camera!" "Speed!" and before I got the chance to yell my coveted direction, a member of my class yelled out "Action!" What?! I continued to let the scene play out but after I yelled "Cut" I made sure I politely, but firmly told the set that I was the director. I was the one who would guide this film, and I was the only one who would call action. After this experience, I realized that this is the way I need to live my life, because although life is a collaborative process, I am the one who gets to decide when the action happens.