Hitting My Stride
The last couple months have felt more busy, with more travel, than most months of my world race. I’m not a person that reflects frequently enough. I like to write, but I’m not disciplined with my reflections. I stop for a split second, figure out what I can learn from an experience and move on the the next one. I don’t like to sit and chew on a feeling for very long. All that to say, not blogging for several weeks in a BAD idea, because all the things I could share are jumbled together like your headphone strings after you try and keep them in your pocket for a few minutes. Here are a few updates from the last few weeks.
I experienced my first [traditional] World Race training camp here at the Adventures in Mission office in Georgia. Seeing future World Racers on fire for their upcoming year, seeing my coworkers serving so excitedly, and hearing talks from experienced staff members was incredible. I work in an office with 3 other people, making videos in suburban Georgia. It’s so easy to lose sight of WHY we do this. While I slowly forget, the future racers were quickly realizing it. The contrast shocked my back to life. I work for an organization that equips a generation to do radical things for the God that is larger and more loving than any of our imaginations could ever grasp. My job is so much more than videos and view counts, it’s serving the Kingdom. That’s way too to easy to forget.
I’ve been at Adventures for six months. World Race Films has released 35 videos. 35 weeks in a row. That’s A LOT. Frequently the days are much longer than the weeks. At this point I can see some obvious ways I’ve grown. For starters, our Canon c300 camera used to scare me. It’s a beast of a camera, compared to my lack of experience. This truly isn’t a big deal, but it’s makes me laugh when I think about the first time I put the camera together and was convinced it would be a giant sign to my coworkers that I didn’t belong here, because I couldn’t connect all the parts together.
I arrived not knowing what sort of role I wanted in the production world. There’s a producer that does the high level management type of work; a director who guides the vision with the producer and leads the shooting of the film; a director of photography who leads camera operations and lighting; and editors who piece the video together. On the race I was just a person with a camera, a little one woman crew. After 35 weeks, I’ve come to love producing and directing. Actually shooting and editing are enjoyable, but not my strengths. I’ve also discovered a passion for screenwriting. I’m devouring books about it and writing weekly. I’m thankful to be in an environment where I can keep growing in new roles.
My brother is biking across America with his fraternity brothers to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. I was able to go to Colorado to film the team at their midpoint. Their ride and commitment to seeing a cure for the disease is incredible. They’re also just a funny group of young men. It was probably the highlight of my summer.
Fundraising update:
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I’m at 75%!
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But I am behind to meet my goal for $9,350 by September 1st. I need another $2,500.
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If you would like to support my work at Adventures in Missions, you can click the red ‘donate’ button on the left sidebar.
Videos below:
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Listen – a film I directed using stock footage, something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
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There’s This Girl – my favorite video from the team lately.
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Miracle – my submission for our team challenge to make a video in one work day with no help from anyone else. Shout out to my roommate for acting.
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Remember: Bike4Alz – my brother’s promo from Colorado
Remember – Bike4Alz from Aly Badinger on Vimeo.
