first choice

i'm blogging during lunch time today because i didn't have time to pack my lunch box.  such is life in a telestial world.

in our animation lecture this morning, our visiting disney guy was talking about creating interesting acting/animation and said to avoid cliches when you can.  the best way to do that is to not go with your first choice.

something about that echoed in me.  that's something i've learned in life but that i don't always put into practice for one reason or another.  there have been so many times that i've often seen how my instinctive first choice was sensible and safe, but when i would redo something (by choice or by necessity) it would be so much more dang awesome.
i've occasionally told myself that, if i had a second life, i would be the lead singer in a rock band.

i remember being in my directing class at byu, where over the course of the semester we would each have the chance to direct a scene with our group.  i remember doing our scene from casablanca and working make it as strong as i could.  at the end of the day, one of my friends said, "i think we'll have the best of the normal interpretations."
i think he was saying that positively, but i didn't like the sound of it.  if i only had one shot to direct in this class, i was not going to do something "normal."  so that night i threw everything out the window and pitched a whole new concept, much more dynamic and very moulin rouge (to give you an idea of how long ago this was).  it wasn't a work of art by any means, but it was much more memorable.

i remember being a missionary in kyoto.  we were teaching a very cool family and i was doing my best but they were starting to fade and i didn't know what to do.  i was trying to be polite without wanting to offend them and soon realized that, if i kept doing what i was doing, they would probably soon being saying, "thanks, but."
honestly, i don't remember what i changed, but i remember biking home one night and deciding that, if kept playing it safe, they would soon be gone.  so i fought for them with all that i had and the mom and daughter were baptized a few weeks after i went home.

i remember being in high school, cast in the role of voice of audrey II in little shop of horrors.  i tried to follow the notes as written and sang properly and i guess i was fine.  then, a day or two before the show was to open, i said the heck with it all and sang like i was an mean green motha from outer space.  my whole body was into it and at one point i opened my eyes and the director was in front of me, jumping up and down in exuberant elation and approval.

i'm not going to run off and join a band.
but i am trying to remember to make a first choice and then keep looking at other ways to it.  whether i'm lighting a scene or designing a new blog header or whatnot, i try to remember to not get too attached to first choice, that there are much more interesting and creative ways to approach and solve a problem, so long as i take the time and effort to get there.

and, just as i was thinking about this, my "uncle" posted this on her facebook wall:

when you write down your thoughts, always write with a pen. never second guess, erase, and rewrite. that would be second guessing, erasing, and rewriting who you are.

and you know what, i agree with that, too.  : )

incidentally, i think this post would be much stronger if i went through and revised it.  we'll see.