Remembering to Dance

I've been told that every child goes through the "I can't get enough of [enter movie that you used to like but is now so over played you've "lost" the DVD - here]" phase. This seems to start to happen around age 2-3 and lasts... well a while I guess. We have no little munchkins to test this on. I wish someone had told me that when I was about 9. My brother Bradley drove us crazy with classics like: Lady and the Tramp, The Little Mermaid and the true killers - The Land Before Time and Barney. Oh that big purple dino!

Looking back I guess I was the same way though. (being the oldest, who remembers?) All morning I've had "I Don't Need Anything But You" stuck in my head. I used to love Annie. She had this fabulous curly, red hair and a really great "rags to riches" story. Classic.

I remember the day we were picking out new living room furniture. We stepped into the massive store and I was quite possibly in 5-year-old heaven. There was no jungle gym, no great play room for shoppers children -- just one, fabulous, tall, gleaming staircase. Nothing could really hold me back, although I remember people trying. I made a beeline for the stairs and, well, the next was inevitable. I re-enacted the entire "stairs" scene from Annie complete with tap dance. I think I even grabbed our sales person's hand to "help him up" after he "fell." (watch the movie again, it'll make sense)

Mom and dad must have been so embarrassed -- although now I think they wish they had invested in those tap lessons. Dancing with the Stars, anyone? I didn't seem to notice though. My goal was to get to those stairs and to dance and sing at the top of my lungs. There were no second thoughts. I just had to do it.

That's how I feel about filmmaking everyday. I have to do it. Sometimes it's not always what I want to do at the moment. But I need to do it. I'm called to do it. I feel it with every little fiber in me. This is what God created me to do. And I'm blessed beyond measure to have a husband who is made to do the same thing. He just has to make films.

I love this crazy journey we're on. It's worth every minute. I guess I had it right as a kid -- run full force towards those stairs, dance your little heart out and do what you were made to do... just make sure you're behind the camera.